The Heritage of Somerset, Kentucky

Pulaski County was established on December 10, 1799, carved from portions of Lincoln and Green counties. It was named in honor of General Casimir Pulaski, the Polish nobleman who gave his life fighting for American independence at the Battle of Savannah. Just two years later, in 1801, the town of Somerset was laid out as the county seat. Local tradition holds that the founding families — many of English descent — named the town after Somerset, England, or possibly Somerset, New Jersey, continuing a pattern of Old World names across the Kentucky frontier.

Early Somerset grew slowly but steadily as a courthouse town. Farmers from across the county came to trade, settle legal matters, and socialize on court days. The town's position along the old Wilderness Road corridor and the Cumberland River kept a steady stream of travelers, merchants, and pioneers moving through. The arrival of the railroad in 1838 would transform Somerset from a quiet county seat into a thriving market town.

Somerset found itself on the front lines of the Civil War. Strategically located near the Cumberland Gap and the Cumberland River, the town became a key Union stronghold in southeastern Kentucky. Union and Confederate forces clashed repeatedly in the surrounding countryside, and Somerset changed hands several times as armies maneuvered for control of the critical gap.

The most significant engagement came on January 19, 1862, at the Battle of Mill Springs, fought about 25 miles south of Somerset near Nancy. Union forces under General George Thomas routed Confederate troops led by General Felix Zollicoffer, who was killed in the fighting. The victory secured the region for the Union and opened the way for the invasion of East Tennessee. Today, the Mill Springs Battlefield is a National Monument, with interpretive trails and markers preserving one of the most important early Union victories of the war.

The arrival of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in 1838 transformed Somerset from a sleepy courthouse village into a thriving market town. The railroad opened the surrounding mountains to timber harvesting, and sawmills, stave yards, and supply stores sprang up around the depot. Somerset became a shipping point for timber, tobacco, and agricultural products heading to markets across the nation.

This era also saw Somerset develop its cultural identity. In 1927, the game of putt-putt golf was invented in Somerset, giving the town a lasting and unique claim to fame as the birthplace of miniature golf. The downtown commercial district grew with banks, hotels, and mercantile stores serving the surrounding agricultural community.

The transformation of Somerset into a tourism destination began with the completion of Wolf Creek Dam in 1952. The dam, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Cumberland River, created Lake Cumberland — a massive reservoir stretching over 50,000 acres with more than 1,200 miles of shoreline. It is one of the largest man-made lakes in the United States and the largest lake by volume east of the Mississippi.

General Burnside Island State Park opened in 1954 on an island in the new lake, named for Civil War General Ambrose Burnside. The park offered camping, golf, and lake access, and quickly became a favorite destination. Marinas sprang up along the shoreline, and Somerset established itself as the boating tourism capital of Kentucky. The lake draws millions of visitors annually for boating, fishing, water skiing, and houseboat vacations.

Today, Somerset is a thriving city of roughly 11,000 residents and the commercial heart of a county of more than 65,000. The I-75 and US-27 corridors make Somerset a major transportation and retail hub for the Lake Cumberland region. The Somerset-Pulaski County area is one of the fastest-growing regions in southeastern Kentucky.

Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital serves as the primary medical facility for the region, while Somerset Community College provides higher education opportunities. The downtown area blends historic storefronts with new restaurants, shops, and breweries. Somerset's identity is inseparable from Lake Cumberland — each year the town hosts the Lake Cumberland Fest, draws boaters from across the nation, and welcomes visitors to one of America's premier lake destinations. Nearly 225 years after its founding, Somerset remains what it has always been — a crossroads of Kentucky and the gateway to Lake Cumberland.