Raccoon, Kentucky

Episode 282 / 12 May 2022 / 170 min / full

When Stupid People Kill

"We're going to Raccoon, Kentucky ... it's in Pike County, area code 606." about 0:04:45

The case: Murder of Gladys Deskins (July 1971); Murder of Fred Cash (May 1986). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2022

Population

1,774

Median age

46.3

Median household income

$27,750

Median home value

$97,000

Property crime

▼ about half

Violent crime

▼ about one third

History, in brief

• Raccoon was named because there were so many raccoons when the town was started. about 0:06:41
• Meta is at the junction of Kentucky Route 1426 and Kentucky Route 2169, 7.7 miles northeast of Pikeville, and had a post office from 1896 to 1959. about 0:07:21
• Pike County was founded in 1821 and named after General Zebulon Pike. about 0:07:45
• Zebulon Pike joined the army in 1794 and fought on the frontier. about 0:08:08
• Pike was an explorer in 1805 and Pike's Peak was named after him. about 0:08:14
• Pike explored the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red Rivers. about 0:08:27
• Pike traced the source of the Mississippi River in 1805. about 0:08:33
• Pike fought at Tippecanoe in 1811 and was promoted to brigadier general during the War of 1812. about 0:08:55
• Pike was killed in April 1813 when the British blew up an ammunition dump at York, Canada, during surrender negotiations. about 0:08:55
• Between 1860 and 1891 Pike County was one of the main areas of the Hatfield-McCoy feud. about 0:09:36
• The county borders Mingo County, West Virginia, which is known as Bloody Mingo. about 0:09:44
• Pike is Kentucky's largest county by land area. about 0:10:00
• Pike County is a moist county: alcohol sales are prohibited except in the wet cities of Pikeville, Elkhorn and Coal Run Village, and only package sales are allowed. about 0:10:42

The reviews read out

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