Carlisle County, Kentucky
county in Kentucky, United States
Carlisle County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,826, making it the fourth-least populous county in Kentucky. Its county seat is Bardwell. The county was founded in 1886 and named for John Griffin Carlisle, a Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky. It remains a prohibition or dry county. Carlisle County is included in the Paducah, KY-IL, Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 199 square miles (520 km2), of which 189 square miles (490 km2) is land and 9.5 square miles (25 km2) (4.8%) is water. The county's western border with Missouri is formed by the Mississippi River.
Adjacent counties
Ballard County (north)
McCracken County (northeast)
Graves County (east)
Hickman County (south)
Mississippi County, Missouri (west)
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 4,826. The median age was 43.7 years.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Carlisle County, Kentucky” is county in Kentucky, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Carlisle, County and Kentucky, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “county in Kentucky, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q491837. VIAF identifies the subject as 145529532. The Library of Congress control number is n88230585. Authority coordinates are 36.850, -88.980. 5 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020 and 1886.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Carlisle County, Kentucky”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Carlisle County, Kentucky primary sources, Carlisle County, Kentucky archive and Carlisle research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Carlisle County, Kentucky”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Carlisle County, Kentucky” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.