Hopkinsville is a city of about 35,000 in Christian County, western Kentucky, near the Tennessee border. It is the commercial centre of the Black Patch tobacco region and has a history connected to the Night Riders — a violent agrarian movement in the early 1900s in which tobacco farmers fought back against monopolistic buyers, resulting in raids and burnings that made this part of Kentucky genuinely lawless for a few years.
The city gained unexpected fame in 2017 when it sat directly on the path of totality for a total solar eclipse, billing itself as "Eclipseville" and drawing tens of thousands of visitors for an event the city had never experienced before. The Edgar Cayce organization is also based in Hopkinsville — Cayce, the "sleeping prophet" of early 20th century spiritualism, was born nearby. The Trail of Tears Commemorative Park marks the route taken by the Cherokee through this area during the forced removal of 1838-39.