Search billions of records on Ancestry.com
   

MY KINFOLKS OF KY & BEYOND
STORY TELLERS
Page 10

Harlan County, Kentucky
by: Kim Jones Dean
(To send Kim an e-mail, click on her name.)
March 16, 2006

Some of you know this place fondly, others know of or have heard about it, and still there are those of you that have no clue where on God's green earth this is.

Harlan County Kentucky

Harlan County, KY is located in the southeast corner of the state, which is the Eastern Coal Field region of the state. To the east lies Virginia, to the south Tennessee. To the north and west Bell, Leslie, Perry and Letcher counties border Harlan (portions of Harlan's territory went to form Letcher, Bell and Leslie counties). Harlan was settled around 1796 and was known as Mount Pleasant. In 1819 part of Knox County was taken to form Harlan County. Harlan was named for Silas Harlan who was a hero of the Battle of the Blue Licks. The city of Harlan is the county seat.

Harlan County covers 467.20 square miles and has four mountain ranges that run across the county - Pine Mountain, Black Mountain, Little Black Mountain, and Stone Mountain. Elevation ranges from 1,070 to 4,145 feet above sea level. Black Mountain runs along the Kentucky and Virginia borders through Harlan and Bell counties. Near the town of Lynch, Black Mountain rises to 4,145 feet, which is the highest point in the state of Kentucky. Martins Fork, Clover Fork and Poor Fork collect in the city of Harlan to form the Cumberland River. There are 305,920 acres of forests in Harlan and of course the coal that lies beneath them.

Before the state was settled long hunters and land speculators explored. Some of these early explorers were Elisha Wallen, Tom Wallen, Joseph Martin, Brice Martin and William Carr among others. Some of the first families to settle in the area were Carr Bailey, William Turner, Samuel Howard and George Brittain to name a few. During the early days of settlement the people of Harlan supported themselves by farming and bartering. Some items that were used to barter with included hides from various animals, ginseng (a Chinese herb with an aromatic root believed to have medicinal properties), and items grown on their farms. Livestock such as hogs, mules, and cattle were sold to buyers who then drove them to markets on the other side of the mountains. After the Civil War logging of walnut, cherry, poplar, oak and chestnut trees was a means of support. These logs were floated down the Cumberland to mills in Wasioto and Williamsburg. Harlan County had the state's first Forest Fire Protection Association in 1913. Kentenia, located on Pine Mountain, was the first state forest, which was established in 1919.

When the Wasioto & Black Mountain Railroad owned and operated by T.J. Asher extended from Bell County to Harlan County in 1911; coal mining was the next industry to boom. The industry took advantage of favorable freight rates and nonunion labor in the 1920's. However, with the mining of coal, many heartaches, deaths, tragedies and disputes followed. In the 1920's Harlan's homicide rate was the highest in the nation. In 1928 coal production was at its peak in Harlan. This soon changed. In the 1930's Harlan was known as "Bloody Harlan" (a nickname which is notorious yet today). This nickname was received during the coal miner strike, which took place between 1931 and 1939. Production of coal reached an all time high in 1942 with 14.7 million tons. This was not the last of the strikes and violence though. The next major strike occurred between 1973 and 1974 at Brookside. Miners fought for the union and company men fought against the union. The miners fought for basic rights, safety being the first concern. Eventually, after many tears, a lot of bloodshed, and many deaths, the miners in Harlan received their union.

Harlan County Kentucky

There are 109 towns in Harlan County; however, there are only seven incorporated cities – Benham, Cumberland, Evarts, Harlan, Loyall, Lynch and Wallins Creek. There are two principal highways – U.S. 119 and U.S. 421. Other state highways include 38, 72, 215, 219, 413, 421, 522, 568, 840, and 987. These highways are sometimes no more than two lane blacktop roads and a lot of them lead to dead ends.

Evarts, Harlan County, KY

This brings me to Dizney, Harlan County, KY. From the city of Harlan you take 38 east to the town of Evarts. Then you pick up 215 which takes you further east, southeast toward the Virginia state line. From Harlan on the way to Dizney you will go through the towns of Harlan Gas, Rex, Kitts, Golden Ash, Blackjoe, Coxton, Brookside, Ages, Verda, Kildav, Draper, and Evarts (these are all along 38). Once you get on 215 you go through Woods, Redbud, Kenvir, and Black Mountain. Dizney is the last town on 215 and when 215 ends, you turn around and go back the way you came.

George Collett's Murderous Rampage

My parents grew up in Dizney, which is also known as Punkin Center. There are six creeks - Bill's Creek, Stretch Neck Branch, Turner's Creek, White Oak Branch, Cloud Branch, and Yocum Creek. These all feed into Yocum Creek which in turn feeds into Clover Fork. Not counting 215 there are five roads - Bill's Creek Road, Stretch Neck Hollow, Cloud Street, Yocum Creek Road, and Turner's Creek Road. There are mountains on both sides of the roads. The town of Dizney used to host a school, a post office, a general store, numerous families, and two churches (which are still holding services today). There are cemeteries on Bill's Creek, Turner's Creek and Yocum Creek. Some of these cemeteries are on maps and others are not. Mom grew up on Stretch Neck Hollow and Dad on Yocum Creek Road.

If you've never been to Harlan County it's hard to imagine, but if you have you know. There aren't words to describe the countryside and surrounding towns unless you've been there or grew up there.

TOWNS OF HARLAN COUNTY, KENTUCKY
Ages Alva Bailey Creek Bardo Baxter
Benham Benito Big Laurel Black Bottom Black Mountain
Blackjoe Blair Bledsoe Bob's Creek Brookside
Cawood Chevrolet Closplint Clover Clover Fork
Clover-Darby Clovertown Coalgood Coldiron Colts
Coxton Cranks Creech Crummies Cumberland
Darkmont Dayhoit Dillon Dione Divide
Dizney Draper Dressen Elcomb Evarts
Farmer's Mill Fresh Meadows Gano Gatun Georgetown
Golden Ash Gray's Knob Gulston Harlan Harlan Gas
Hensley Store Highsplint Hiram Holmes Mill Incline
Insull Jonesburg Keith Kentenia Kenvir
Kildav Kitts Laden Layman LeJunior
Lenarue Liggett Longton Louellen Low
Loyall Lynch Martin's Fork Mary Alice Mary Helen
Molus Nolansburg Pansy Pathfork Pine Mountain
Popeville Putney Redbud Rex Rhea
Ridgeway Rileyville Rio Vista River Ridge Rosspoint
Rutherford Sampson Sandhill Shields South Wallins
Stanfill Sunshine Tacky Town Teetersville Ten Spot
Three Point Totz Tremont Twila Verda
Wallins Creek Wilhoit Woods Yancey