Trigg County is a county in Kentucky, United States, on the state’s southwestern edge along the Tennessee border and bordering both Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake. It had a population of 14,061 at the 2020 census and covers 481 square miles (1,250 km2), of which 441 square miles (1,140 km2) are land, centred near 36°49′N 87°53′W.
Cadiz is the county seat, and its postal code is 42211. The county has one incorporated city (Cadiz), one census-designated place (Cerulean) and more than a dozen unincorporated communities. Trigg County is in the Central Time Zone and forms part of the Clarksville, TN–KY Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Towns & Villages in Trigg County
Trigg County has one incorporated city, one census-designated place, and a scatter of unincorporated communities, several of them lakeside resort subdivisions around Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake. Type key: City · seat, CDP (census-designated place), Unincorp. (unincorporated community).
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cadiz | City · seat | — | 42211 |
| Cerulean | CDP | — | 42215 |
| Barkley Shores | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Black Hawk | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Blue Spring | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Buffalo | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Caledonia | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Canton | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Cedar Point | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Cumberland Shores | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Donaldson | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Fenton | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Ferguson Spring | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Golden Pond | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Linton | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Maple Grove | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Montgomery | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Roaring Spring | Unincorp. | — | 42215 |
| Rockcastle | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Shawnee Hills | Unincorp. | — | 42211 |
| Wallonia | Unincorp. | — | 42215 |
Golden Pond is now a ghost town — its residents were relocated in the 1960s when the federal government created the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, and the site now houses the LBL visitor centre and planetarium rather than a resident population.
ZIP Codes
- 42211 — Cadiz (also serves most of the county’s unincorporated communities)
- 42215 — Wallonia (also serves Roaring Spring and the county’s eastern edge)
Cerulean shares the Cadiz-area 42211 delivery footprint on some mapping services, but the U.S. Postal Service assigns it no separate ZIP of its own beyond the Cadiz code used at its post office.
Geography
Trigg County sits between two major reservoirs, Lake Barkley on the east and Kentucky Lake on the west, with the forested Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area occupying the peninsula between them in the county’s western third. The Cumberland River, impounded as Lake Barkley, forms much of the eastern boundary. Terrain outside the lake corridor is rolling farmland typical of the Pennyroyal Plateau.
Trigg County borders Lyon County to the north, Christian County to the east, Marshall County to the northwest, and Stewart County, Tennessee, to the south. It also borders Caldwell County to the northeast and Calloway County to the southwest.
Demographics
The 2020 census counted 14,061 people in Trigg County, a population density of about 33 per square mile. Cadiz is the largest incorporated place; Cerulean, in the county’s northeast, is the only other census-designated community. The county’s median household income runs below the Kentucky median of $61,118, reflecting its rural, agricultural and tourism-based economy.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture, particularly grain and livestock farming, remains central to the county’s economy, alongside tourism tied to Land Between the Lakes, Lake Barkley State Resort Park, and boating and fishing on the two reservoirs. Trigg County is nationally known for its annual Trigg County Country Ham Festival, held each October in Cadiz. The county was a “dry” county for decades after Prohibition ended and did not allow package alcohol sales again until a 2009 local referendum.
History
Trigg County was formed in 1820 from parts of Christian and Caldwell counties and named for Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Trigg, a Virginia-born Revolutionary War officer killed in 1782 at the Battle of Blue Licks, now in Robertson County, Kentucky. The federal government’s creation of Land Between the Lakes in the 1960s reshaped much of the county’s geography, relocating residents of communities such as Golden Pond and converting a large share of the peninsula into public recreation land.
Getting There
U.S. Route 68 and Kentucky Route 80 cross the county through Cadiz, linking it to Interstate 24 a short drive to the east.
- Hopkinsville, Kentucky — 20 miles east
- Clarksville, Tennessee — 30 miles southeast
- Murray, Kentucky — 30 miles southwest
- Paducah, Kentucky — 45 miles northwest
The nearest commercial airport is Nashville International Airport, roughly 80 miles southeast of Cadiz.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Trigg County, Kentucky?
It sits in southwestern Kentucky along the Tennessee border, between Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake.
What is the population of Trigg County?
14,061 people, per the 2020 census.
How big is Trigg County?
481 square miles (1,250 km2), including 40 square miles of lake and river water.
What is the county seat of Trigg County?
Cadiz.
How many towns are in Trigg County?
One incorporated city (Cadiz), one census-designated place (Cerulean), and roughly 20 unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Trigg County?
42211 (Cadiz) and 42215 (Wallonia).
Why was Trigg County a dry county for so long?
It stayed dry after Prohibition ended in 1933; voters didn’t approve package alcohol sales again until a 2009 referendum.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Kentucky.