Fulton County (Ky.)

Fulton County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Kentucky, with the Mississippi River forming its western boundary. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,515. Its county seat and largest city is Hickman. The county was formed in 1845 from Hickman County, Kentucky and named for Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat. Allied with Tennessee by trade and culture, white Fulton County residents were largely pro-Confederate during the American Civil War. Forces from both armies passed through the county during different periods of the conflict. Because of imprecise early surveying of Kentucky's southern border, Fulton County is divided into two non-contiguous parts. An exclave on the peninsula in the Kentucky Bend of the Mississippi River can be reached only by road through Tennessee.