Ferguson, KY

Ferguson grew just south of Somerset around the Cincinnati Southern Railroad’s engine repair shops, first as a residential community for railroad workers and later as a city incorporated in 1906. The railroad laid out streets, built a school, and created the work culture that shaped generations of families. From the steam era through the mid-twentieth century, the Ferguson Shops serviced locomotives and employed skilled mechanics, machinists, welders, and other tradespeople. When diesel engines could travel farther between repairs, the yard began to close, and the town had to adjust to the loss of its main employer.

Ferguson now sits along the Cumberland River and KY 1247 just south of Somerset, with KY 914 providing another route through the area. Neighborhood streets, churches, small businesses, and Ferguson Park—on the former school grounds—carry pieces of the old community forward. The city’s archives and local history projects keep the railroad years close at hand, including memories of the depot, shop work, school trips, and the families who lived within reach of the tracks. Ferguson’s present is less industrial, but the railroad’s imprint remains in the town plan and in the skills, stories, and family connections that still link it to Somerset.