Fulton, KY

Fulton is a home-rule-class city in western Kentucky, pressed against the Tennessee line across from South Fulton. Its regional story was built through transportation and produce: at its peak as the Banana Capital of the World, about 70 percent of imported bananas entering the United States passed through Fulton. That history still surfaces each year in the International Banana Festival, a community event with festival activities, food, and the world's largest banana pudding.

South Fulton sits directly across the state line, so the two places share a single local landscape despite different state governments. A post office opened here in 1847 when the settlement was called Pontotoc. Fulton is part of the Union City–Hickman micropolitan area, and the Fulton County Public Library maintains a branch in the city plus a bookmobile that serves Fulton, Hickman, and neighboring South Fulton, Tennessee. That cross-state library arrangement matches the geography: the area's library routes, schools, and annual festival connect the two cities. The state line makes that connection visible every day.