Great Gelding

Calvert City was named for Potilla Willis Calvert. He built his home, Oak Hill, in 1860 and around a decade later gave a portion of his land to a new railroad, specifying that a station be built near his home. That station served as the starting point of the town, which was incorporated on March 18, 1871. The railroad station and post office long favored the shorter Calvert, but the Board on Geographic Names reversed its earlier decision in 1957 and switched to the longer form. By 1896, Calvert City was known as a sundown town, where African Americans were not allowed to reside.