  cumberland county is a county located in the u.s. state of kentucky. as of the 2010 census, the population was 6,856. its county seat is burkesville. the county was formed in 1798 and named for the cumberland river, which in turn may have been named after the duke of cumberland or the english county of cumberland. cumberland county is a dry county, which means that the sale of alcohol is prohibited. ==history== cumberland county was created in 1798 from land given by green county. in 1829, the first oil well in the united states was dug three miles north of burkesville. however, it is usually not recognized as such because the drillers were looking for salt brine. cumberland county was the birthplace of joel cheek who later made maxwell house coffee. it was the first county in the united states to elect a female sheriff, pearl carter pace. burkesville is the first city downstream from wolf creek dam. there has been much recent concern about the dam's stability. ==geography== according to the u.s. census bureau, the county has a total area of , of which  is land and  (1.8%) is water.{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/g
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