Since its annexation to Paducah in 1836, Lower Town has been reinvented by determined residents, visionary elected officials, a locally owned bank, and the Lower Town Neighborhood Association. Today a vibrant community of businesses and preservationists is joined by artists in the national award-winning Artist Relocation Program. Then & Now: Lower Town, Paducah compares historic images with modern photographs to document the spirit of the citizens and the renaissance of the neighborhood.

This in-depth study offers a new examination of a region that is often overlooked in political histories of the Bluegrass State. George G. Humphreys traces the arc of politics and the economy in western Kentucky from avid support of the Democratic Party to its present-day Republican identity. He demonstrates that, despite its relative geographic isolation, the region west of the eastern boundary of Hancock, Ohio, Butler, Warren, and Simpson Counties to the Mississippi River played significant roles in state and national politics during the New Deal and postwar eras. Drawing on extensive archival research and oral history interviews, Humphreys explores the area's political transformation from a solid Democratic voting bloc to a conservative stronghold by examining how developments such as advances in agriculture, the diversification of the economy, and the civil rights movement affected the region. Addressing notable deficiencies in the existing literature, this impressively researched study will leave readers with a deeper understanding of post-1945 Kentucky politics.