Carter County, Kentucky's eighty-eighth county and thirty-second in size, was formed in 1838 from Greenup and Lawrence and named for Colonel William Grayson Carter, a state senator from 1834 to 1836. In its early years it was noted for five iron furnaces and its clay products, and industry developed in the late 1800's. Carter Caves, a major source of saltpeter during the War of 1812, has been an important tourist attraction since 1924.