COVINGTON

city, one of the seats of Kenton county (the other being Independence), north-central Kentucky, U.S., at the juncture of the Ohio and Licking rivers, adjoining Newport (east) and opposite Cincinnati, Ohio. The site, originally given to George Muse in return for military services, was traded (1780) for a keg of whiskey. Laid out in 1815, it was named for General Leonard Covington, who died in the War of 1812. With the surge of river traffic and the opening of the Covington-Georgetown Turnpike (1819), it began to flourish as a trading centre. Covington is now an agricultural market (tobacco, corn , livestock) and has acquired various manufactures. The Roman Catholic Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption (1910) is styled after Notre-Dame in Paris. Thomas More College (1921; formerly Villa Madonna College) and Northern Kentucky University (1968) are in Covington. Works by artist Frank Duveneck, a native son, are displayed in the public library. The birthplace of Dan Carter Beard, founder of the Boy Scouts of America, is a national historic landmark. Inc. 1834. Pop. (1990) 43,264.