The earliest inhabitants were prehistoric Native Americans who lived, hunted, and farmed in the region.

One of their settlements was a rough stone structure on Fort Ridge, which has since been destroyed by strip mining for coal.

Some of the early settlers were Revolutionary War veterans who received land grants for their service from Virginia in the area southwest of the Green River.

Among these was Baron Von Steuben, a Prussian officer who had trained George Washington's Continental Army at Valley Forge during the winter of 1776–77.

The major traces were those which connected the county seat at Madisonville with Henderson to the north, Hopkinsville to the south, and Russellville to the southeast.

Numerous other trails led to the mills and ferries on the Pond and Tradewater Rivers and their tributaries.

Farming was the major occupation in Hopkins County for most of the 19th century, with tobacco the leading crop.

John Bayless Earle, whom the town of Earlington, Kentucky was named for, opened the first coal mine in the county in 1869.

Many new communities were first established as railroad stops, including Crofton, Hanson, Mortons Gap, Nortonville, and White Plains.

Dawson Springs, in the southwestern part of the county, began to thrive in the 1880s as a health resort, but its popularity had faded by the time of the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Beginning in 1968, the majority white voters began to favor Republican Party presidential candidates.

Since 2000, they have consistently voted for Republican candidates for the presidency (see table below), and increasingly so in local and statewide elections as well.

The policy also applies to community groups that use school facilities and to field trips and any school-sponsored activity.