The Eastern Kentucky Coalfield is part of the Central Appalachian bituminous coalfield, including all or parts of 30 Kentucky counties and adjoining areas in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee.Eastern Mountain Coal Fields Retrieved on January 30, 2010 It covers an area from the Allegheny Mountains in the east across the Cumberland Plateau to the Pottsville Escarpment in the west. The region is known for its coal mining; most family farms in the region have disappeared since the introduction of surface mining in the 1940s and 1950s.
The Daniel Boone National Forest is located along the east of the Pottsville Escarpment. The area features many natural arches and sandstone cliffs. The Red River Gorge, part of the National Forest, is known worldwide in rock climbing circles.
The Sheltowee Trace Trail runs north and south, through the region.
During the American Civil War most of this region leaned toward the Union due to its makeup at the time of mostly small farmers, but more than 2,000 men from this area formed the 5th. Kentucky Vol. Inf., known as the Army of Eastern Kentucky, under Gen. Humphrey Marshall, C.S.A. During the Great Depression, New Deal programs and the organizing of the United Mine Workers of America made many of the eastern counties Democratic.
Eastern Kentucky has a rich musical heritage. Many nationally acclaimed country music singers and musicians are from the area, including Loretta Lynn, Crystal Gayle, The Judds, Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Patty Loveless, Dwight Yoakam, Tom T. Hall, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jean Ritchie, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Chris Stapleton, and George S. Davis.
As of the 1980s, the only counties in the United States where over half of the population cited "English" as their only ancestry group were in the hills of eastern Kentucky (and made up nearly every county in this region).James Paul Allen and Eugene James Turner, We the People: An Atlas of America's Ethnic Diversity (Macmillan, 1988), 41. In the 1980 census, 1,267,079 Kentuckians out of a total population of 2,554,359 cited that they were of English ancestry, making them 49 percent of the state at that time. Large numbers of people of Scottish and Irish ancestry settled the area as well.
Geography The Eastern Kentucky Coalfield covers 31 counties with a combined land area of 13,370 sq mi (34,628 km2), or about 33.1 percent of the state's land area. Its 2000 census population was 734,194 inhabitants, or about 18.2 percent of the state's population. The largest city, Ashland, has a population of 21,981. Other cities of significance in the region include Pikeville, London, and Middlesboro. The state's highest point, Black Mountain, is located in the southeastern part of the region in Harlan County.
Counties
Major cities
The following list consists of Eastern Kentucky cities with populations over 4,000 according to the 2020 United States Census:Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016 Population Estimates U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved August 13, 2015
Rank City Population in 2020 County 1 Ashland 21,625 Boyd 2 Middlesboro 9,405 Bell 3 Corbin 7,856 Whitley, Knox, and Laurel 4 Pikeville 7,754 Pike 5 London 7,572 Laurel 6 Mount Sterling 7,558 Montgomery 7 Flatwoods 7,325 Greenup 8 Morehead 7,151 Rowan 9 Williamsburg 5,326 Whitley 10 Hazard 5,263 Perry 11 Paintsville 4,312 Johnson
Protected areas
Historical parks Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (part) Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site
State resort parks Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park Carter Caves State Resort Park Cumberland Falls State Resort Park Greenbo Lake State Resort Park Jenny Wiley State Resort Park Natural Bridge State Resort Park Pine Mountain State Resort Park
State recreational parks
Carr Creek State Park Dawkins Line Rail Trail Fishtrap Lake State Park Grayson Lake State Park Kingdom Come State Park Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park Paintsville Lake State Park Pine Mountain State Scenic Trail Yatesville Lake State Park
Other
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (part) Breaks Interstate Park (part)
Economy
The region's economy is centered around the natural resources available, which includes coal, timber, natural gas, and oil. Recently, tourism has become a leading industry in the region, due to the region's cultural history and the creation of state parks.
Calgon Carbon constructed the Big Sandy Plant near Ashland in 1961 and it has since become the world's largest producer of granular activated carbon. The facility produces over 100 million pounds of granular activated carbon annually.Calgon Carbon Big Sandy Plant Retrieved March 21, 2014.
Persistent poverty Most of the counties in the Eastern Kentucky Coalfield are classified as "persistent poverty counties". The definition of a persistent poverty county by the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture is that 20 percent or more of the total county population has been living in poverty since the 1980 census."Geography of Poverty", , accessed February 17, 2017
A June 2014 article in The New York Times identified six counties in the Kentucky Coal Field as among the "hardest places to live in the United States." The lowest-ranking counties were Breathitt, Clay, Jackson, Lee, Leslie, and Magoffin. They ranked among the bottom ten counties nationwide. The factors which accounted for the low ranking of those six counties were unemployment, prevalence of disabilities, obesity, income, and education. The Times declared Clay County the hardest place to live in the U.S.Flippen, Alan (June 26, 2014), "Where Are the Hardest Places to Live in the U.S.?" The New York Times.
Appalachian Regional Commission
The Appalachian Regional Commission was formed in 1965 to aid economic development in the Appalachian region, which was lagging far behind the rest of the nation on most economic indicators. The Appalachian region currently defined by the Commission includes 420 counties in 13 states, including all counties in Kentucky's Eastern Coalfield. The Commission gives each county one of five possible economic designations—distressed, at-risk, transitional, competitive, or attainment—with "distressed" counties being the most economically endangered and "attainment" counties being the most economically prosperous. These designations are based primarily on three indicators—three-year average unemployment rate, market income per capita, and poverty rate.County Economic Status, Fiscal Year 2017: Appalachian Kentucky . ARC. Retrieved: July 14, 2017.
From 2012 to 2014, "Appalachian" Kentucky—which includes all of the Eastern Coalfield and several counties in South Central Kentucky and a few in the eastern part of the Bluegrass region—had a three-year average unemployment rate of 9.8%, compared with 7.6% statewide and 7.2% nationwide. In 2014, Appalachian Kentucky had a per capita market income of $18,889, compared with $28,332 statewide and $38,117 nationwide. From 2010 to 2014, Appalachian Kentucky had an average poverty rate of 25.4%—the highest of any of the ARC regions—, compared to 18.9% statewide and 15.6% nationwide. Twenty-five Eastern Mountain Coal Field counties—Bell, Breathitt, Carter, Clay, Elliott, Floyd, Harlan, Jackson, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin, McCreary, Menifee, Morgan, Owsley, Powell, Rowan, Whitley, and Wolfe—were designated "distressed," while four—Laurel, Montgomery, Perry, and Pike—were designated "at-risk." Two Eastern Coalfield counties were designated "transitional" — Boyd and Greenup. No counties in the Eastern Coalfields region were given the "attainment" designation or were designated "competitive."
The following table illustrates the economic status of each county.
County Population (2010) Unemployment Rate (2012–14) Per CapitaMarket Income (2014) Poverty Rate (2010–14) Status (2017) Bell 28,691 11.9% $14,644 32.7% Distressed Boyd 49,542 8.6% $24,337 19.1% Transitional Breathitt 13,878 13.7% $14,386 31.5% Distressed Carter 27,720 12.0% $18,014 18.7% Distressed Clay 21,730 13.3% $11,531 35.7% Distressed Elliott 7,852 13.5% $10,529 39.6% Distressed Floyd 39,451 11.7% $18,473 29.5% Distressed Greenup 36,910 9.3% $23,879 18.0% Transitional Harlan 29,278 15.4% $13,620 32.1% Distressed Jackson 13,494 15.4% $13,496 31.7% Distressed Johnson 23,356 10.1% $19,008 25.3% Distressed Knott 16,346 13.5% $14,271 26.5% Distressed Knox 31,883 11.9% $15,549 33.8% Distressed Laurel 58,849 9.2% $21,051 23.3% At-Risk Lawrence 15,860 10.5% $15,399 23.5% Distressed Lee 7,887 11.7% $11,750 33.4% Distressed Leslie 11,310 15.0% $15,357 23.9% Distressed Letcher 24,519 14.2% $15,955 24.5% Distressed Magoffin 13,333 16.3% $11,139 26.8% Distressed Martin 12,929 9.4% $14,826 33.9% Distressed McCreary 18,306 12.4% $9,763 37.7% Distressed Menifee 6,306 11.2% $15,656 28.8% Distressed Montgomery 26,499 8.2% $23,093 25.2% At-Risk Morgan 13,923 10.3% $13,451 29.7% Distressed Owsley 4,755 11.9% $10,528 39.2% Distressed Perry 28,712 12.3% $20,131 26.6% Distressed Pike 68,736 10.6% $21,285 24.1% At-Risk Powell 12,613 10.1% $18,403 27.5% Distressed Rowan 23,333 7.8% $18,642 26.0% At-Risk Whitley 35,637 10.0% $17,321 24.1% Distressed Wolfe 7,355 13.3% $10,532 44.3% Distressed
Health
Most of the counties in the Eastern Kentucky Coalfield rank in the lowest ten percent of U.S. counties in average life expectancy. Both men and women have average life spans that are several years less than the average life span in the United States. Moreover, many counties have seen a decline in the life expectancy of men and/or women since 1985. Average life expectancy in some counties is as low as 70 years as compared with the life expectancy of some counties in the U.S. of more than 80 years. Factors influencing the health of residents include a high prevalence of smoking and obesity and a low level of physical activity."Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation", , accessed February 17, 2017
Post-secondary education
Public universities Morehead State University
Contrary to what its name suggests, Eastern Kentucky University is actually located outside of the Eastern Coalfield, in the Bluegrass-region city of Richmond.
Private colleges and universities Alice Lloyd College Clear Creek Baptist Bible College Frontier Nursing University Kentucky Christian University Kentucky Mountain Bible College Union College University of Pikeville University of the Cumberlands
Community and technical colleges Ashland Community and Technical College Big Sandy Community and Technical College Hazard Community and Technical College Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College
Political climate
As a whole, East Kentucky was long a Democratic stronghold, similar to Central Appalachia as a whole.Schwartzman, Gabe; "How Central Appalachia Went Right"; Daily Yonder, January 13, 2015 The only two counties in the state to vote against Mitch McConnell in each of his six senatorial campaigns through 2020 have been Wolfe and Elliott Counties, both in East Kentucky. However, the region has swung dramatically to the right in the 21st century, similar to neighboring West Virginia. In 2004, eleven counties in East Kentucky supported Democratic candidate John Kerry, and in 2008, even as the nation as a whole shifted Democratic, the number of East Kentucky counties supporting Democratic candidate Barack Obama fell to just four, and in 2012 it fell to just one. Every county in East Kentucky supported Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2020 with at least 50% of the vote. In fact, each of the three most Republican counties in Kentucky (in terms of vote proportion) were all in East Kentucky (namely Leslie, Jackson and Martin Counties). Each gave less than a tenth of their vote to Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate.