Created in 1824 and named in honor of Capt. Virgil McCracken, it was the 78th formed in the state. It is bounded on the north by the Ohio River, N.E. by the Tennessee River, south east by Marshall County, south by Graves County and west by Ballard County. First county seat was established in 1827 at Wilmington (about 8 miles west of Paducah and 3 miles south of the Ohio River). The county seat was moved to Paducah in 1832 because of flooding; the records were moved in skiff.
The county was named for Captain Virgil McCracken, a native of Woodford County Kentucky. McCracken was killed at the Battle of the River Raisin near Detroit during the War of 1812.
Besides being the home of Vice President Alben Barkley, Paducah was home to one of the most famous humorists, Irvin S. Cobb. Cobb was a newspaper reporter, war correspondent, author, and movie star. He is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Paducah.
American Red Cross organizer Clara Barton visited Paducah in 1884 via steamboat to help direct relief work during the Ohio River flood. Relief boats traveled from Pittsburgh to Cairo in the first flood relief operation of the American Red Cross.
(This posting created from articles printed in the Jackson Purchase Historical Society 1969 Sesquicentennial publication)