Bell County

By Tim Cornett

Bell County is a place steeped in history and imbued with a pioneering spirit. Its favorable location in southeastern Kentucky at the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains makes it the gateway to the Bluegrass State and beyond. Formed just after the Civil War from neighboring Harlan and Knox Counties, the area was explored by famous frontiersmen Dr. Thomas Walker and Daniel Boone, opening the nation's door to the West. From the 1750s until the last footfalls of the pioneers had been heard in the West, thousands trekked across this region. As the land became more accessible, travelers began to settle in this remote area. The discovery of coal, the advent of logging, and the coming of the railroad made Bell County a place to live and prosper, and its residents have always taken pride in their town's humble beginnings.

Images of America: Bell County celebrates the region's heritage with vintage images and informative text. Black-and-white photographs culled from a variety of sources highlight the spirit of a remarkable community, where self-made millionaires and peg-legged admirals were among the many unforgettable individuals to call the area home. This photo journal invites readers to rediscover Bell County and its treasures.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Jun 18, 2002
• ISBN: 9781439612279

Tim Cornett

Tim Cornett is the former news editor of the Pineville Sun and the Barbourville Mountain Advocate. He has also lent his hand to preservation, serving as the director for Main Street Pineville. He is a lifelong resident of the county and has published a pictorial history of Bell County with Arcadia Publishing and self-published a history of Black Star, Kentucky, one of many now-extinct coal mining towns in the state�s Appalachian Plateau. Mr. Cornett is a long-time member of the Bell County Historical Society, and as he puts it, �if I don�t know �em, they�re not really from Bell County.�

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INTRODUCTION

The history of Bell County began in 1750 when Dr. Thomas Walker, following old Indian trails, explored the holdings of the Commonwealth of Virginia west of the mountains that would become known as the Cumberlands. Walker named that mountain range and the natural gap he found there for the Duke of Cumberland. Walker was followed some 20 years later by Daniel Boone, who was commissioned to carve a road out of the wilderness into the bluegrass area to open the area to westward expansion. From Boone’s day until the last footfalls of the pioneers had been heard in the west, hundreds of thousands of settlers trekked across the Cumberland Gap, descended into the Yellow Creek Valley, and crossed the Cumberland River at Cumberland Ford. As the land became more accessible, many of these travelers settled in what was to become Bell County.

These photos show the development of this dark and bloody ground, from traces of Native Americans to a collection of thriving communities. Here one will encounter images of the ford as it looked when Daniel Boone passed through. Soon after came the era of logging and the railroads, followed by the discovery of coal and the boom years associated with it. One will also find images of the building of a dream city just three miles from Cumberland Gap—a dream that turned to dust as fires, bank failures, and poor management plagued its developers. But these photos tell more than the stories of towns and buildings. They speak for the people who settled the area, grew up here, and went on to raise families and build our community. They tell of I.A. Partin, one of the first settlers in the isolated area of the county named South America because it is so remote. They show a young John Hoskins leaving his home to claim his place in history as the modern navy’s only peg-legged admiral. They depict the suffering and grief when mines exploded or gunfire erupted.

In essence they show not just the history of a place but the history of a people—a people who hail from hardy pioneers. These pioneers made westward expansion a reality as our nation grew to adulthood in the latter part of the 19th century and the beginning years of the 20th century.

THE COURT SQUARE IN PINEVILLE. The court square was dominated by the gothic style court house. This was the second courthouse to serve the county, replacing the original log structure that had been built in 1870 at Cumberland Ford in the Narrows. The man standing on the corner is C.T. Samuels, the cashier at First State Bank, and walking toward him from the middle of the block is A.C. Blowers, the general manager of the Bell-Jellico Coal Company. The exact date of the photo is unknown, but it was apparently taken after 1908 when the iron fence was erected around the square. The fence cost $2,000 to install. A portion of the fence still stands in the yard of a private residence at Bird Branch, just outside of Pineville on US 119.

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SETTLEMENTS, COMMUNITIES, TOWNS

ARTIST’S SKETCH OF CUMBERLAND FORD. This settlement sprang up shortly after exploration of Kentucky began. The actual river ford was located directly in front of the house in this sketch. The brick house was built by Isaac Shelby, who was the first governor of the state, although he never lived in it. The home was later purchased by J.J. Gibson, who sold the bottom land in the valley behind the house to the Pine Mountain Coal and Iron Works for the City of Pineville. The sketch was produced for an 1888 promotional booklet touting the City of Pineville, which was to be incorporated in 1890.

MAP OF BUILDINGS IN THE NARROWS, 1888. From this narrow strip of land, hemmed in by the river and the mountain, the town gradually grew northward into the bottom land around the site of the Cumberland River Ford. Among the public buildings and businesses in the Narrows were the first courthouse (a log structure), the first jail, the store and later hotel of Capt. William Bingham, the blacksmith shop run by Blacksmith Bill Partin, and the first school.

THE COMMISSARY OF THE NATIONAL COAL AND IRON COMPANY AT STRAIGHT CREEK. With the advent of the mining industry in Bell County, Straight Creek became a thriving community in the late 1800s. The commissary housed the post office, butcher shop, grocery store, shoe store, and scrip office.

MINERS AND THEIR MULES IN A MINE AT STRAIGHT CREEK. One of the first mines in the area was opened by the Pine Mountain Coal and Iron Company (PMCI). In 1890, the PMCI attempted to lower the wages of the miners from 2 1/2¢ per bushel to 2¢ per bushel. The miners immediately went on strike—probably the first strike