Harlan County, Kentucky
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| Harlan County, Kentucky | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of Kentucky |
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 Kentucky's location in the U.S. |
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| Statistics | |
| Founded | 1819 |
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| Seat | Harlan |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
468 sq mi (1,212 km²) 467 sq mi (1,210 km²) 1 sq mi (2 km²), 0.17% |
| Population - (2000) - Density |
33,202 71/sq mi (27/km²) |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 |
| Website: www.harlancountychamber.com | |
| Named for: Silas Harlan (1753–1782), soldier in the Battle of Blue Licks. | |
Harlan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1819. As of 2000, the population was 33,202. Its county seat is Harlan. The state's highest peak, Black Mountain (4145 ft/1263 m) is in Harlan County.
With regard to the sale of alcohol, it is classified as a moist county—a county in which alcohol sales are prohibited (a dry county), but containing a "wet" city, in this case Cumberland, where package alcohol sales are allowed.[1]
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[edit] History
Harlan County was formed in 1819 from a part of Knox County. It is named after Silas Harlan.
Silas Harlan, a pioneer, was born on March 17, 1753 in Berkeley County, West Virginia, the son of George and Ann (Hurst) Harlan. Journeying to Kentucky with James Harrod in 1774, Harlan served as scout, hunter, and military leader of the rank of major. Harlan assisted Harrod's party in Harrodsburg to pick up gunpowder to be delivered to the Kentucky settlers to assist them against the British in the Revolutionary War.
Harlan built a log stockade with the help of his uncle Jacob and his brother James near Danville known as "Harlan's Station." Harlan served under George Rogers Clark in the Illinois campaign of 1778-79 against the British. He also commanded a company in John Bowman's raid on Old Chillicothe in 1779, and assisted Clark in establishing Fort Jefferson at the mouth of the Ohio River in 1780.
Silas Harlan died leading the advance party at the Battle of Blue Licks on August 19, 1782. At the time of his death Harlan was engaged to Sarah Caldwell, who later married his brother James and became the grandmother of U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan. [2][3]
The county has been the site of great labor unrest beginning in the early 20th century, primarily surrounding the coal mining industry. Labor unrest in the 1930s led to the country being referred to as "Bloody Harlan Country" for several years. The county was the subject of the film Harlan County, USA, which documented strikes and organizing during a second major period of labor unrest in the 1970s.
The county is the site of a rare criminal case in which a man, Condy Dabney, was convicted in 1924 of murdering a person who was later found alive.
[edit] Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 468 square miles (1,212 km²), of which, 467 square miles (1,210 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (2 km²) of it (0.17%) is water.
[edit] Geographic features
The headwaters of the Cumberland River are located in Harlan County: Poor Fork (extending from the city of Harlan east past the city of Cumberland and into Letcher County), Clover Fork extending East from above Evarts, and Martins Fork (extending through the city of Harlan west). The confluence is located in Baxter.
Black Mountain, located east of Lynch is Kentucky's highest point, with an elevation of 4145 ft (1263 m) above sea level.
[edit] Adjacent counties
- Perry County (north)
- Letcher County (northeast)
- Wise County, Virginia (east)
- Lee County, Virginia (southeast)
- Bell County (southwest)
- Leslie County (northwest)
[edit] National protected area
[edit] Demographics
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1820 | 1,961 |
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| 1830 | 2,929 | 49.4% | |
| 1840 | 3,015 | 2.9% | |
| 1850 | 4,268 | 41.6% | |
| 1860 | 5,494 | 28.7% | |
| 1870 | 4,415 | -19.6% | |
| 1880 | 5,278 | 19.5% | |
| 1890 | 6,197 | 17.4% | |
| 1900 | 9,838 | 58.8% | |
| 1910 | 10,566 | 7.4% | |
| 1920 | 31,546 | 198.6% | |
| 1930 | 64,557 | 104.6% | |
| 1940 | 75,275 | 16.6% | |
| 1950 | 71,751 | -4.7% | |
| 1960 | 51,107 | -28.8% | |
| 1970 | 37,370 | -26.9% | |
| 1980 | 41,889 | 12.1% | |
| 1990 | 36,574 | -12.7% | |
| 2000 | 33,202 | -9.2% | |
| http://ukcc.uky.edu/~census/21095.txt | |||
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 33,202 people, 13,291 households, and 9,449 families residing in the county. The population density was 71 people per square mile (27/km²). There were 15,017 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile (12/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.56% White, 2.62% African American, 0.48% Native American, 0.29% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.08% from other races, and 0.95% from two or more races. 0.65% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 13,291 households out of which 32.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.30% were married couples living together, 13.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.90% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.00.
The age distribution was 25.00% under the age of 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 25.20% from 45 to 64, and 13.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.80 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $18,665, and the median income for a family was $23,536. Males had a median income of $29,148 versus $19,288 for females. The per capita income for the county was $11,585. About 29.10% of families and 32.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 40.10% of those under age 18 and 21.00% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Cities
[edit] Unincorporated communities
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[edit] Education
The county's only higher education institution is Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College (formerly known as Southeast Community College), a part of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, which has its main campus in Cumberland.
The county has two K-12 public school districts.
Harlan County Public Schools covers all of Harlan County, except for the city of Harlan and some small unincorporated communities adjacent to the city. Currently, the district operates three high schools:
- Cumberland High School, Cumberland. [1]
- Serves students from the cities of Cumberland, Benham, Lynch, and near the Letcher County border.
- Mascot: Redskins
- Serves a wide geographical area reaching from the Harlan City limits to the Virginia border.
- Mascot: Wildcats
- Serves about one half of students in central Harlan County.
- Mascot: Trojans
In 2008, a new consolidated Harlan County High School (nickname: Black Bears) is scheduled to open, replacing all three of the above schools.
The district also operates the following K-8 schools:
- Evarts Elementary
- Black Mountain Elementary
- Cawood Elementary
- Green Hills Elementary
- Cumberland Elementary
- Hall Elementary
- Wallins Elementary
- Rosspoint Elementary
Harlan Independent Schools is a separate district covering the city of Harlan and operating the following schools:
- Harlan High School
- Mascot: Green Dragons [4]
- Harlan Middle School
- Harlan Elementary School
The Harlan Independent district will not be participating in the Harlan County High consolidation.
There are two private schools in the county:
[edit] Notable residents
- Rebecca Caudill -- Newberry honored author of children's books[7]
- Maxine Cheshire -- Journalist
- Wah Wah Jones -- NBA player
- Nick Lachey -- Boy bander from the group 98 Degrees
- Cawood Ledford -- University of Kentucky basketball and football announcer
- George Ella Lyon -- Author and poet of over 30 books[8] for children and adults
- Florence Reece -- Songwriter of the union anthem "Which Side Are You On?", made famous by The Almanac Singers and covered by several artists, most recently including Natalie Merchant on the album The House Carpenter's Daughter.
- Tony Turner -- Television journalist and WYMT news director
[edit] Area attractions
- Black Mountain Recreation Park - This off-road park has been voted number one all-terrain vehicle (ATV) destination by ATV Pathfinder[9] for two years running. It consists of more than 7,000 acres (28 km²) set aside for quads and four-wheel-drive vehicle recreation. The park attracts several thousand visitors and is considered by many to be the best riding area in the eastern United States. Harlan county also holds the Guinness world record for the largest ATV parade.[5]
- Kingdom Come State Park - Elevation: 2,700 feet (823 m). Size: 1,283 acres (5.19 km²) Location: On the outskirts of the city of Cumberland, and is connected to the Little Shepherd Trail. This state park was named after the popular Civil War novel, "The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come," by Kentucky author John Fox, Jr.. The park contains a picnic area, hiking trails, a fishing lake, a cave amphitheater, several lookouts and contains many natural rock formations, including Log Rock and Raven Rock. It is also the site of the annual Kentucky Black Bear Festival.
- Benham School House Inn
- Kentucky Coal Mining Museum
[edit] Films
- The Wal-Mart Project (2006). Directed by Jamie Middleton.
- Harlan County, USA (1976). Directed by Barbara Kopple.
- Harlan County War (2000). Directed by Tony Bill.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Wet & Dry Counties in Kentucky (PDF). Kentucky Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Retrieved on March 21, 2007.
- ^ Green III, James S (1964). Major Silas Harlan: His Life and Times, 83.
- ^ Harlan, Alpheus Hibben (1914). History and Genealogy of the Harlan Family.
- ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ Lee-Sherman, Deanna (2006-Sep-16), “County breaks ATV world record”, Harlan Daily Enterprise, <http://www.harlandaily.com/articles/2006/09/17/news/local_news/news9568.txt>
[edit] External links
- The Kentucky Highlands Project
- Black Mountain Rec Park - Harlan County's Tourism
- I Love My Harlan homepage
- Harlan Daily Enterprise newspaper
- The Pine Mountain Settlement School Website
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