Owensboro (pop. 60,183; met. area pop. 112,464) lies in western Kentucky on the south bank of the Ohio River. Factories there make automotive frames, chemicals, electrical goods, food products, liquor, paper products, and tobacco products. The city is the home of Brescia University and Kentucky Wesleyan College.
Owensboro was founded in the late 1790’s as Yellow Banks and later renamed in honor of Colonel Abraham Owen, who died in the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. The city was incorporated in 1817. It is the seat of Daviess County. Owensboro’s government is headed by a manager and a commission.
