High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Central City is a city in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 5,893 at the 2000 census. It is also the largest city in the county and the principal community in the Central City Micropolitan Statistical Area which includes all of Muhlenberg County and the communities within it. The city grew up around a junction of old wagon trails that went north and south. These trails soon become roads and with roads, railroads came as well. The city once had a full-fledged working train yard, complete with a Roundhouse and coal tipple. The city`s elevated rail station (formally the ICRR) was in downtown and had passenger service between Paducah & Louisville. The city`s street level rail station (formally the L&N) carried passengers toward Owensboro, KY to the north, and Russellville, KY towards the south. As time went by, the railroads were more focused on freight carriage, not passenger, and so Central City`s importance along the rail lines lessened. The city still resides alongside the Mainline for Paducah and Louisville Railway, but also sits along a trunk-line for CSX Transportation. The trunk-line brings trains in from Wyoming and the mainline yard in Madisonville to the Paradise Fossil Plant just minutes south of the city along the Green River. Many longtime residents say that "As the coal industry goes, so goes Central City!" The two factors that played into the growth of Central City were the coal mines and the railroad.