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All the United States Kentucky Tiptonville Kentucky Bend

Kentucky Bend

Kentucky's anomalous peninsula projecting into the Mississippi River, site of legendary earthquakes and local feuds.

Tiptonville, Kentucky

Added By
Mark Allender
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Map depicting Kentucky Bend’s isolation   Wikimedia user Jim Efaw
Map depicting Kentucky Bend’s isolation   Wikimedia user Jim Efaw
Old cotton fields on the Bend   markallender / Atlas Obscura User
Satellite image pointing out sand volcanoes scarring the Bend   markallender / Atlas Obscura User
Bubbleland: The most dead end in Kentucky?   markallender / Atlas Obscura User
Bubbleland’s cotton fields   markallender / Atlas Obscura User
Marker from the cemetery on Kentucky Bend   markallender / Atlas Obscura User
State line between the Kentucky Bend and Route 22 in Tennessee   Wikipedia user Zzzuucx
  Michael Reinhardt / Atlas Obscura User
  Michael Reinhardt / Atlas Obscura User
  Michael Reinhardt / Atlas Obscura User
  Michael Reinhardt / Atlas Obscura User
  Michael Reinhardt / Atlas Obscura User
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About

North of Tiptonville, Tennessee, is an exclave of Kentucky surrounded by Tennessee on the south and the Mississippi River on the north, east, and west—and thereby isolated from the rest of the state. Some call this strange place "Bessie Bend," but most locals call it the "Kentucky Bend" or the "New Madrid Bend."

Jutting out into the middle of the Mississippi River, the tiny community on the Kentucky Bend consists of a smattering of houses, cotton fields, and a lone cemetery. Yet this little spit of land has fascinated outsiders for well over a century.

Located near the epicenter of the 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes, which ranks among the strongest ever registered in the United States, many sources claim that nearby Reelfoot Lake was created as a result of these astounding shifts in the ground. A preponderance of "sand volcanoes" run like scars down the peninsula and remain the only signs of the massive geologic events. 

The Mississippi River, central America's preeminent determiner of East-West boundaries, was useless in marking ownership when it came to the Kentucky Bend. Missouri and Tennessee fought over the Bend until the mid-1800's, when Tennessee finally relinquished its claim to Kentucky, which came out on top thanks to latitudinal jurisdiction.  

With only a few hundred residents calling the Bend home at its peak, the cotton farmers managed to cultivate a legendary feud, as detailed in Mark Twain's 1883 publication, Life on the Mississippi. Around 60 years of livestock-fueled rivalry between the Darnell and Watson families ended in a bloodbath when the Darnells attempted to flee the tumult by way of a secret steamship escape, only to be gunned down, dockside, by the Watsons. As the Darnell line was extinquished, the Watsons emerged "triumphant", and the population of the Kentucky Bend began its precipitous decline to the estimated 17 or so residents living there today. 

Nonetheless, this strange piece of American geography continues to intrigue, due as much to the volatile conditions that brought it to life, as to the ones that played a role in its decline. 

Related Tags

Geological Oddities Rivers Earthquakes Mark Twain Islands Geology

Know Before You Go

First get to Tiptonville, Tennessee. Then head north on Rt. 22. You will find yourself pretty well stranded on the Bend (as many escapees from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville have discovered to their horror).

Community Contributors

Added By

markallender

Edited By

littlebrumble, glasseye, Molly McBride Jacobson, erjeffery...

  • littlebrumble
  • glasseye
  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • erjeffery
  • williamfblinn
  • Michael Reinhardt

Published

September 16, 2015

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Sources
  • http://mentalfloss.com/article/28816/welcome-bubbleland-life-strange-little-chunk-kentucky
  • http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/178-the-kentucky-bend-or-bubbleland-not-far-from-monkeys-eyebrow
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Bend
Kentucky Bend
Kentucky Bend Road
Tiptonville, Kentucky, 38079
United States
36.529502, -89.503555
Get Directions

Nearby Places

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Kentucky

Kentucky

United States

Places 84
Stories 11

Nearby Places

The Queen Tombstone

Charleston, Missouri

miles away

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Kentucky

Kentucky

United States

Places 84
Stories 11

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