Paducah, Kentucky

[11] By this time, steam boats traversed the river system, and its port facilities were important to trade and transportation.This was the primary north–south railway connecting the industrial cities of Chicago and East St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico at Gulfport, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana.Over a period of 190 days, a large ravine between Washington and Jones streets was filled with 44,560 carloads of dirt to enlarge the site, sufficient for the construction of 23 buildings.Throughout most of the war, Col. Stephen G. Hicks was in charge of Paducah, and the town served as a massive supply depot for Federal forces along the Ohio, Mississippi, and Tennessee river systems.Grant was trying to break up a black market in cotton, in which he assumed Jewish traders were involved due to racial stereotyping associated with anti-Semitic tropes.Cesar Kaskel, a prominent local Jewish businessman, dispatched a telegram of complaint to President Lincoln and met with him.As there were similar actions taken by other Jewish businessmen and loud complaints by Congress about the treatment of their constituents, Lincoln ordered the policy to be revoked within a few weeks.[13][14] On March 25, 1864, Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest raided Paducah as part of his campaign northward from Mississippi into Western Tennessee and Kentucky.Known as the Battle of Paducah, the raid was successful in terms of the re-supply effort and in intimidating the Union, but Forrest returned south.According to his report, "I drove the enemy to their gunboats and fort; and held the city for ten hours, captured many stores and horses; burned sixty bales of cotton, one steamer, and a drydock, bringing out fifty prisoners.For nearly three weeks, 27,000 residents were forced to flee or to stay with friends and relatives on higher ground in McCracken or other counties.Buildings in downtown Paducah still bear historic plaques that define the high water marks.As a result, Congress authorized the United States Army Corps of Engineers to build the flood wall that now protects the city.Martin Marietta, its successor company Lockheed-Martin, and now the United States Enrichment Corporation have operated the plant in turn.The plant was closed in June 2013, and the Department of Energy began the process of decontaminating and shutting down the facilities.[17] Paducah has been part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the category of craft and folk art since November 2013.[22] Paducah has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa) with four distinct seasons and is located in USDA hardiness zone 7a.[23] Spring-like conditions typically begin in mid-to-late March, summer from mid-to-late-May to late September, with fall in the October–November period.Winter typically brings a mix of rain, sleet, and snow, with occasional heavy snowfall and icing.[24] Summer is typically hazy, hot, and humid with a July daily average of 78.9 °F (26.1 °C) and drought conditions at times.[39] In May 2003, photographer Jim Roshan documented the painting of the Lewis and Clark Expedition mural during the America 24/7 project.[50] On November 21, 2013, Paducah was designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art.[50] From Crosby, Stills & Nash to Garrison Keillor, Shanghai Circus to STOMP, the Carson Center hosts touring Broadway productions, well-known entertainers, dramas, dance and popular faith-based and family series.[28] Prominent African-American musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Chick Webb's orchestra, B.B.Paducah is one of only two cities named in the world-famous song "Hooray for Hollywood", which is used as the opening number for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards (the Oscars).[citation needed] The Chiefs played in J. Polk Brooks Stadium from its opening in 1948 until the KITTY League folded after the 1955 season.[53][54][55] Brooks Stadium currently is the home field for the Paducah Chiefs of the Ohio Valley Summer Collegiate Baseball League.There is also a Paducah campus of Murray State University, which offers approximately 20 bachelor's and master's degree programs.That station now operates from Cape Girardeau as the market's Telemundo affiliate, but still nominally licensed in Paducah.Purchase Area Family Magazine,[65] a monthly publication distributed throughout Western Kentucky and Metropolis, Illinois, debuted in 2003.