Harlan, Kentucky

Coordinates: 36°50′29″N 83°19′12″W / 36.84139°N 83.32000°W / 36.84139; -83.32000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Harlan, Kentucky
FIPS code
21-34732
GNIS feature ID0493746

Harlan is a

2010 census,[4]
down from 2,081 at the 2000 census.

Harlan is one of three Kentucky county seats to share its name with its county, the others being Greenup and Henderson.

History

The fifth and present courthouse of Harlan, Kentucky, built from 1918 to 1922

Harlan was first settled by Samuel and Chloe Howard in 1796. Upon the founding of Harlan County (named for Kentucky pioneer

Martin's Fork.[5]

Harlan is the site of a criminal case in which a man, Condy Dabney, was convicted in 1924 of murdering a person who was later found alive.[8]

A flood in 1977 prompted federal aid that diverted the Clover Fork into man-made tunnels under Ivy Hill in 1989.[5] In the 1990s, a flood wall was completed on the city's west side along the four-lane bypass U.S. Route 421.

Geography

A view of U.S. Route 421 from downtown; the flood wall and Harlan Independent Schools' athletic fields are also visible.

Harlan is located in west-central Harlan County at 36°50′29″N 83°19′12″W / 36.84139°N 83.32000°W / 36.84139; -83.32000 (36.841487, -83.320066),

Poor Fork, forming the Cumberland River, a major tributary of the Ohio River. Harlan is in a narrow mountain valley, constrained to the north by the western end of Black Mountain
, to the south by Little Black Mountain, and to the west by Ewing Spur. The elevation at the Harlan Courthouse is 1,197 feet (365 m) above sea level, while the surrounding ridges rise outside the city limits to 2,100 feet (640 m) (Black Mountain), 3,000 feet (910 m) (Little Black Mountain), and 2,300 feet (700 m) (Ewing Spur).

U.S. Route 421 passes through the city as four-lane highway; it leads north 34 miles (55 km) to Hyden and southeast 23 miles (37 km) to Pennington Gap, Virginia. The closest city with a population greater than 10,000 is Middlesboro, Kentucky, 42 miles (68 km) to the southeast via U.S. Routes 119 and 25E.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Harlan has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.5 km2), of which 0.03 square miles (0.08 km2), or 2.45%, are water.[4]

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification system, Harlan has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[10]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1890361—
190055754.3%
191065718.0%
19202,647302.9%
19304,32763.5%
19405,12218.4%
19504,786−6.6%
19604,177−12.7%
19703,318−20.6%
19803,024−8.9%
19902,686−11.2%
20002,081−22.5%
20101,745−16.1%
20201,7761.8%
2022 (est.)1,885[11]6.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[12]

As of the

Asian, and 0.82% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos
of any race were 0.62% of the population.

Downtown Harlan during the annual Poke Sallet Festival

There were 926 households, out of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.3% were married couples living together, 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.6% were non-families. 39.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.3% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 19.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $17,270, and the median income for a family was $29,135. Males had a median income of $37,500 versus $20,852 for females. The

poverty line
, including 40.0% of those under age 18 and 20.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Overlooking East Central Street. Harlan High School and Middle School are visible on the left.

Two school districts, the Harlan County Public Schools and the Harlan Independent Schools, are based in the city. The independent schools, whose district roughly coincides with the city limits of Harlan, feature Harlan Elementary, Harlan Middle, and Harlan High.

Harlan County High School, which opened in 2008 as the consolidation of the county district's three previous high schools (James A. Cawood, Evarts, and Cumberland), serves all other public high school students in the county. Harlan also features a campus of Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College.

Harlan has a lending library, a branch of the Harlan County Public Library.[14]

Media

The Harlan Daily Enterprise newspaper is published Monday through Saturday. Radio stations serving Harlan are

WTUK
(country, 105.1 FM).

Some storylines of the

OxyContin scandal series “Dopesick
” also take part in Harlan County.

Harlan was also featured in the Darrell Scott song "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" (later performed by Brad Paisley, Patty Loveless and in 2019 by Montgomery Gentry on the CD "Outskirts"), the Steve Earle song "Harlan Man", the Anna McGarrigle song "Goin' Back to Harlan" (notably covered by Emmylou Harris), the song "Harlan County Line" from Dave Alvin, and the Tyler Childers song “Harlan Road”.

Harlan County, USA is a documentary about the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County in June 1973. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between company personnel and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. It won an Oscar for Best Documentary in 1977. This is one of the reasons it is called "Bloody Harlan".

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  2. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in Kentucky: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Harlan city, Kentucky". American Factfinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved June 28, 2017.[dead link]
  5. ^ a b c d Greene, James III. The Kentucky Encyclopedia, p. 408. "Harlan". University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1992. Accessed July 30, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c Rennick, Robert M. (1987). Kentucky Place Names. University Press of Kentucky. p. 131. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  7. ^ Commonwealth of Kentucky. Office of the Secretary of State. Land Office. "Harlan, Kentucky Archived 2013-12-02 at the Wayback Machine". Accessed July 29, 2013.
  8. ISBN 1-4086-7960-4
    .
  9. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  10. ^ Climate Summary for Harlan, Kentucky
  11. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in Kentucky: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  12. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  13. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  14. ^ "Kentucky Public Library Directory". Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. Archived from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019.

External links


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