[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 5 (Thursday, January 9, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S76-S77]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     McCRACKEN COUNTY BICENTENNIAL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, in the early 1800s, a band of pioneers 
settled in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase founding what would become 
McCracken County. At the confluence of the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers, 
this settlement grew over time into a bustling center for business, 
agriculture, and the arts. This year, on their bicentennial 
anniversary, the people of McCracken County will pay tribute to two 
centuries of rich history and cultural heritage, and today, I am proud 
to join them as they mark this impressive milestone.
  The county was named in tribute to Captain Virgil McCracken, a brave 
Kentuckian who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Battle of the River 
Raisin during the War of 1812. Like much of the rest of the Purchase, 
McCracken County was blessed with fertile land and grew, thanks to its 
easy access to Kentucky's inland waterways. Dry dock facilities for 
steam and towboats soon cropped up, while Paducah, the county seat of 
McCracken County since 1832, became an important railway hub. By the 
turn of the 19th century, McCracken County formed an integral part of 
Kentucky's commerce, culture, and governance.
  Around this time, the county produced one of our State's most 
prominent political figures, Alben Barkley. The story goes that Barkley 
bought a ``one-eyed horse named Dick'' to transport him all across 
McCracken County during his first campaign for county attorney. But the 
secret to Barkley's success was less his mode of transportation than 
his amiable and empathetic personality. Not one to waste time, Barkley 
quickly found his footing on the national political stage, rising from 
Congressman to Senator to Senate majority leader to our Nation's 35th 
Vice President under President Harry Truman. Barkley continues to cast 
a long shadow on Kentucky's political history, something I am reminded 
of daily. I mean this quite literally; this son of McCracken County 
continues to hold a prominent place in my office, his portrait hanging 
on the wall of my Capitol office, alongside that of Senator John 
Sherman Cooper.

[[Page S77]]

  Another important moment in McCracken's history came in the Cold War, 
when the community bolstered American security at the Paducah Gaseous 
Diffusion Plant, which began production of enriched uranium in 1952. 
For many years, the plant remained the only operating uranium 
enrichment facility in the United States. While that work has since 
completed, the plant's employees remain dedicated to their jobs and the 
important work they perform each day to transition this facility into 
the future.
  Today, McCracken County remains the heart of America's inland 
waterways and a center for creativity and folk art that serves as the 
gateway to west Kentucky's history and opportunity. Kentuckians from 
all across the Commonwealth travel to Paducah each year, the cherished 
home of the National Quilt Museum and other famed attractions like the 
Paducah Riverfront, the Paducah Railroad Museum, the Tilghman Civil War 
Museum, the Inland Waterways Museum, and the William Clark Market House 
Museum, the county's oldest museum. It is no surprise that, every year, 
more and more families decide to call McCracken County home. With the 
leadership of Judge Executive Craig Clymer, the Paducah Area Chamber of 
Commerce, and other dedicated Kentuckians, this vibrant community will 
continue to succeed in our Commonwealth. I ask my Senate colleagues to 
join me in honoring McCracken County and its 200 years of history and 
heritage.

                          ____________________