Hopkinsville’s founder, Bartholomew Wood, planned to name the town for his daughter Elizabeth after claiming a 1,200-acre land grant in what became Christian County in 1796.
But the name was taken around the same time with the establishment of Elizabethtown in Hardin County. So Hopkinsville was named instead for Samuel Hopkins, a Revolutionary War veteran who represented Henderson County in the Kentucky House of Representatives.
Two other American towns have been named Hopkinsville. One, in Ohio, is a small, unincorporated community. The other, in Texas, is described today as a ghost town.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
