Berea, Kentucky

  Sunday Morning in Berea Ky

             Berea is located in southern Madison County near the edge of central Kentucky's Blue Grass Region at exits 76 & 77 on I75. The city is 15 miles south of Richmond, Kentucky, 39 miles south of Lexington, Kentucky; 113 miles southeast of Louisville, Kentucky and 132 miles north of Knoxville, Tennessee. Berea has a small town atmosphere with cultural and historic roots that makes Berea an ideal place to live, work and play. It is a beautiful combination of southern hospitality and Appalachian tradition.  Named the folk arts and crafts capital of Kentucky, Berea has something for everyone. This town, also the home of Berea College, If you're looking for crafts with the beauty of Appalachian tradition and culture, Berea, is the place to visit.

            Around 1850 this area was called the Glade, was a community of scattered farms with a racetrack and citizens sympathetic to emancipation. In 1853, rich and politically ambitious Cassius Clay gave Reverend John G. Fee a free swathe of land in the Glade, where with local supporters and other abolitionist missionaries, Fee established a church, Berea College, and a tiny village. Fee named Berea after a biblical town where the people "received the Word with all readiness of mind." 1869, Berea College grew, and a community surrounding it rapidly developed. Streets were laid out and lots sold, a fire department established, a town well dug and applied to have a railroad and public roads come through town. Then on April 4, 1890, the town incorporated and the affairs of town and college were separated.

                Berea currently has a population of  13,606 (2006) for our climate see the chart below, I hope this information is helpful in some way.