Editing Hopkinsville, Kentucky (section)

===Early years===
The area of present-day Hopkinsville was initially claimed in 1796 by Bartholomew Wood as part of a {{convert|1200|acre|km2|0|adj=on}} grant for his service in the [[American Revolution]]. He and his wife Martha Ann moved from [[Jonesborough, Tennessee]], first to a cabin near present-day W. Seventh and Bethel streets; then to a second cabin near present-day 9th and Virginia streets; and finally to a third home near 14th and Campbell.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.visithopkinsville.com/about/history/ |access-date=January 24, 2023 |website=visithopkinsville.com|date=October 29, 2013 }}</ref>

Following the creation of [[Christian County, Kentucky|Christian County]] the same year, the Woods donated {{convert|5|acre|m2}} of land and a half interest in their Old Rock Spring to form its seat of government in 1797. By 1798, a log courthouse, jail, and "stray pen" had been built; the next year, John Campbell and Samuel Means laid out the streets for "Christian Court House". The community tried to rename itself "Elizabeth" after the Woods' eldest daughter, but [[Elizabethtown, Kentucky]] pre-ëmpted the name, and the [[Kentucky Assembly]] established the town in 1804 as "Hopkinsville" after veteran and state representative [[Samuel Hopkins (congressman)|Samuel Hopkins]] of [[Henderson County, Kentucky|Henderson County]] (later the namesake of [[Hopkins County, Kentucky|Hopkins County]] as well and despite being in a neighboring county and having the same namesake, Hopkinsville was never the county seat of Hopkins County, despite Hopkins County being created from Christian and Henderson Counties).<ref name=kenky>{{cite book |title=''Encyclopedia of Kentucky'' |chapter=Dictionary of Places: Hopkinsville |publisher=Somerset Publishers |location=[[New York, New York]] |year=1987 |isbn=0-403-09981-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n159 160]}}</ref>

Along with the rest of Kentucky, the town was late in establishing [[state school|free lower education]], but natives organized private schools, and the town was the home of [[South Kentucky College]] (est. 1849) and [[Bethel Female College]] (est. 1854).<ref name=kenky/>

Since 1854, Hopkinsville has been the site of the [[Western State Hospital (Kentucky)|Western Kentucky Lunatic Asylum]].