Kuttawa, KY

Kuttawa was founded in 1866 by former Ohio governor Charles Anderson and incorporated in 1872. The name appears in older forms as Cuttawa and Kittawa; its connection to a nearby Cherokee village and its meaning remain disputed. The city's geography changed sharply in the 1960s, when Barkley Dam impounded the Cumberland River and Lake Barkley reached Kuttawa's southern side. Eddyville borders the city to the east, and Mineral Mound State Park lies along the lake.

That reservoir now supplies the working map around town: Silver Cliff Park has a beach and picnic pavilions, Kuttawa's walking path climbs above the lake, and Mineral Mound includes a boat ramp, fishing pier, picnic area, and eighteen-hole golf course. The lake also carries the story of the old river communities that were flooded during construction. Kuttawa's schools are part of the Lyon County district, while city offices and local businesses sit on the routes around U.S. 62 and Kentucky 295. The town is small, but its history is split between a nineteenth-century crossroads and a twentieth-century reservoir.