Every Lake
Kentucky
The Ohio River draws the whole northern edge — and Kentucky owns the water to the far bank.
Kentucky in relief
The land itself, cut in six steps of birch from the lowlands to the high ground — the cities starred, the summit and rise on the title block. No counties, no roads: just the shape of Kentucky.
About Kentucky
Kentucky's outline is nearly all river. The Ohio curves along the entire north, and the boundary sits at its 1792 low-water mark on the far shore, so the state owns the river itself; the Mississippi closes the west, the Big Sandy and the Tug Fork the east. Inside, the Cumberland Plateau fills the coal country of the east, the Bluegrass rolls around Lexington on limestone that built the horse farms, and the Pennyroyal karst hides Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system in the world. One hundred twenty counties — only Texas and Georgia have more.
Kentucky separated from Virginia and entered the Union on June 1, 1792, the 15th state and the first west of the Appalachians, settled through the Cumberland Gap. Frankfort was picked as the capital that same year, a compromise between Lexington and Louisville that neither could refuse. The map's oddity is the Kentucky Bend, a piece of the state stranded across the Mississippi by one of the river's loops. I-64, I-65 and I-75 cross at Louisville and Lexington, and the Bourbon Trail runs between them.
- Six layers of birch — the land in elevation steps
- The summit and total rise on the title block
- The major cities, starred and named
- Title block with the admission date and capital
- A double rule engraved around the edge
- Every county line and the state border
- The interstates with their shields — 12 on this board
- The major cities, starred and named
- Title block with the admission date and capital
- A mile ruler engraved around the frame
