Owensboro, city (1990 pop. 53,549), seat of Daviess co., W Ky., on the Ohio River; settled c.1800, inc. as a city 1866. It is an important tobacco market and a shipping point for a farm and oil region. Food, coal, and steel are processed, and there is diverse manufacturing, including limestone, whiskey, electrical motors, rubber gaskets, vinyl windows, office furniture, fertilizer, and tobacco products. Confederates attacked and burned part of the city, including the courthouse, in 1864. Owensboro is home to Kentucky Wesleyan College, Brescia Univ., a museum of science and history, and an art museum.
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