Harlan County Kentucky

The following is an excerpt from the Kentucky Encyclopedia, By John E. Kleber, Kentucky Bicentennial Commission:

Harlan, Silas. Silas Harlan, Pioneer, was born on March 17, 1753, on Harlan's Run in present-day 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, attaining the rank of major in the militia. He was a member of the Committee for the Defense of West Fincastle and participated in the movement to make Kentucky part of Virginia in 1776 rather than an independent state under the auspices of the Transylvania Company. On january 2, 1777, Harlan joined Col. James Harrod's party in Harrodsburg to pick up gunpowder that George Rogers Clark and John Gabriel Jones had previously delivered from P8ittsburgh to Three Islands in present-day Lewis County. The powder was then delivered to Kentucky settlers to assist them against the British in the Revolutionary War.
In 1778, with the help of his brother James and his uncle Jacob, Harlan built a log stockade near Danville known as Harlan's Station. He served under Clark in the Illinois campaign of 1778-79 against the British forts, 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. Harlan was highly regarded by his contemporaries. He died leading the advance party at the Battle of Blue Licks on August 19, 1782. At the time of his death, he was engaged to Sarah Caldwell, who later married his brother James and became the grandmother of U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan.

Population, 2006 Estimate...........................................31,692
Housing units, 2006 ................................................... 15,538
Homeownership rate, 2000...........................................73.5%
Housing units in multi-unit structures,2000.................... 9.3%
Median value of housing units 2000............................$43,000
Households, 2000....................................................... 13,291
Persons per household, 2000.........................................2.47
Land area, 2000 (square miles)..................................467.20
Persons per square mile, 2000......................................71.1

Harlan County has never had much to offer its residence in the way of manufacturing or industrial jobs. Over the years when a factory or plant of some sort has been opened turnout for employment has always been huge. Unfortunatly it never seems to last too long. Companies and factories repeatedly pull up stake and leave town. This has been the case for decades in Harlan county, even as recently as 2008 another factory full of employee's closed its doors and left town.
The one thing that has always remained for Harlan county is coal or Black Gold as it has been called over the years. It's stable, there is a huge supply, and our need for energy requires it.
The coal miner is a rare breed, he/she puts his life on the line for the good of his family daily. He shoulders a huge responsibility and puts his life in the hands of his coworkers. He is rugged, strong, dependable and admirable. How do I know these things? I am the daughter of a coal miner, currently in his 39th year in the business. I have three younger brothers, all three of them work in the Coal mining industry.
The coal miner works his entire life for pay that does not match his sacrifice. Most coal miners that I know work 6 days a week at an average of 50 to 70 hours per week.
The picture here is of the coal monument in downtown Harlan with a list of names of men who have given the ultimate sacrofice in the coal mines.

Beginning in 1973 a long and hard strike began at Eastover Coal Company's Brookside mines that did not end until 1974. It began when the owner, Duke Power Company refused to sign a UMWA Contract. The strike which led to bloodshed and fear is one that many can easily remember. In the summer of 1973, workers at the Duke Power-owned Eastover Coal Company's Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, Kentucky voted to join the union. Eastover management refused to sign the contract and the union went on strike. Duke Power brought in replacement non-union workers (scabs). The replacement workers would not respect the picket lines and violence ensued. Hogg, the local judge was himself a coal operator and repeatedly ruled in favor of Eastover. He was often accused of being paid off by the company, as was several local leaders and law enforcement.
During the final months of the strike the mine workers' wives and children began manning the picket lines. They were arrested, hit by baseball bats, shot at and struck by cars. I've seen in some reports where this was called a bloodless strike. I can assure my readers it was anything but bloodless. Bloodshed abounded and violence was the daily norm. Three months after returning to work, UMWA's contract expired. On November 12, 1974, 120,000 miners nationwide walked off the job. However, this time it was a non violent strike and a new contract was achieved within a few weeks. Men were back at work, trucks and trains were hauling before Christmas.
The man in the photo, being led away is my uncle. He died of electrocution inside the Brookside mine in 1980. The photo is a screenshot from the movie Harlan County USA.

In the 1920s miners were joining unions in all over the country. The most well known and highly joined was the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) led by John L. Lewis. In most areas a miner was blacklisted by mine operators and evicted from company homes as soon as they joined a union. Union was a foul word in a coal mining town in those days. A foul word that would not be tolerated. That is what happened in eastern Kentucky in 1931 when mine operators banned workers for voting to unionize. Being blacklisted and evicted meant you were not making money to feed your families and couldn't find work elsewhere. At this time there was no one to provide aid to them. No public assistance was available nor any state or federal benefits, no welfare, foodstamps or unemployment.
On May 5, 1931 tension hit its peak; in Harlan County Kentucky, heavily armed deputies and company men, called "gun thugs" by miners, confronted disgruntled union men on a road near Evarts. The coal miners, tough from Kentucky mountain life and hard mining work, knew how to fight back. It is uncertain who fired the first shot but when it was over men miners and deputies alike were dead with many more wounded. The next day soldiers entered Harlan to end the violence. Two days later The National Guard came. The soldiers joined forces with local rulers and began strikebreaking activities. The county of Harlan entered a state of siege. Schools were closed. All the mines in the Evarts area were shut down. Random sniping erupted for days to follow.

"These damned miners thought we came here to help them." was a statement made by Lt. Col. Sidney Smith

By June the strike was over;not because any agreement was met but because it had been stamped out by officials like a piece of simmering ash that pops out of a campfire. Union leaders were banished from the mines and 44 men stood trial. However the violence toward coal miners and union members did not end with the strike. The Knoxville News-Sentinel, 1931 stated it as follows: "It seemed like the old feudal system argument that the slave can have nothing to say as to his master's treatment of him."

When the situation became known nationally, public outrage led a group of authors, including Theodore Dreiser and John Dos Passos, to visit the area to report on conditions. The Governor, under pressure later admitted:

"there exists a virtual reign of terror (in Harlan County), financed in general by a group of coal mine operators in collusion with certain public officials: the victims of this reign of terror are the coal miners and their families... a monster-like reign of oppression whose tentacles reached into the very foundation of the social structure and even into the Church of god... the homes of union miners and organizers were dynamited and fired into...It appears that the principal cause of existing conditions is the desire of the mine owners to amass for themselves fortunes through the oppression of their laborers, which they do through the sheriff's office."
- 1935 state investigatory commission report

Unfortunatly, Harlan County's troubles were not over. They continued through most of the 1930s. This decade is the reason Harlan County aquired the nickname "Bloody Harlan". Harlan's struggles during these hard depression years became one of the most bitter labor disputes in American history. This decade of conflict between miners and the coal operators who continually resisted unionization was violent. Miners and gun thugs alike lost their lives. Harlan County remained in its feuding state until 1939, when another major strike erupted. This time the miners were backed by federal law and finally won thier union.

In recent years the residents of Harlan County have taken to the mountains for entertainment. With so much mountainside, trails, old mining and logging roads and woods to see what better place to roam on 4 x4, ATV or other offroad vehicle. After local folks have ridden the trails and virtually created most of these trails it has attracted others from all around the country.
In recent years the tourist have came in droves on long weekends to these beautiful mountain views and to enjoy the great outdoors. It started by word of mouth advertising. Some would come, have a great time and tell someone else in a short time the crowds grew, the people kept coming.
Many offroad enthusiasts from across the US enjoy these outdoor sports. The problem is there isn't a lot of rugged area to do it. Harlan has exactly that. If you love offroading you'll be in heaven.
There are camp grounds, cabin rentals, ATV Rentals, riding parks that are free and lots of mountain area to explore. See my extra links at the top of this page for more information and links to some of Harlans trail sites and clubs.
Currently, the Harlan County Ridge Runners in Evarts, Kentucky holds the record for the Longest ATV Parade. The club set the record of 1,138 ATVs in a parade in the summer of 2006, surpassing the old record of 687 set in Hurley, Wisconsin.

A bad economy is felt nationwide, even in the mountains of Harlan County.The Coal mining industry takes blows just like everything else. So far many have had reduced pay, hours and in many cases told they will pay thier own insurance. Many unfortunate employees has had all three happen to them. Some mines have even closed down and layed off men.
However, many folks in this area have vegetable gardens, canning and preserving is common place. One good live stock can feed a family for an entire winter. Thats how our forfathers survived the depression and thats how many are preparing now.
When times are tough a little relaxation and enjoyment is always a welcome freind. Offroad activities seem to increase rather than decrease. Harlan County Ridge Runners President Bill Troutman told Harlan Dainly enterprise despite the troubled national economy they had maintained a large number of visitors to these events. All rental houses and R.V. sites were booked up ahead of schedual for the Memorial Day weekend festivities. The events included a Pig Roast hosted by the Harlan County Ridge Runners and The Southern Shrine Crawl hosted by the Kentucky Mountain Crawlers. There was a Gospel singing under the tent in the Evarts area for the weekend, as well as the 79th Annual Mountain Laurel Festival.
Needless to say Harlan county was abuzz all weekend.
Driving home from visiting family Friday night as the weekend was just getting underway, I saw a huge crowd at the singing in Evarts as the music filled the streets. It seemed there were more atvs out than passenger vehicles. The Verda Field where the Southern Shrine Crawl is held looked ablaze as campfires and R.V. lights dotted the darkness like fireflies. One could almost smell the excitement in the air.
The events of the weekend drew folks from across the nation. Anyone who was in Harlan County over the weekend could easily forget that our country is in any economic hardship.





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Recently 20/20 did a special reported by Diane Sawyer on poverty in the Appalachia titled A Hidden America "Children of the Mountains" this special aired on Friday February 13, 2009.
The special brought emotions from local communities on several levels. Many were angry because they felt that only the most negative aspect of mountain life was portrayed while showing the most heart wrenching stories that could be found. Others were enraged because they felt that it was an eye opener to situations that need dire attention.
For my own part, I feel that both reactions are warranted and true. It is a well known fact that the media have a well documented history of looking for the most run down areas and the most poverty stricken situations to report. This is fine if it is done for the right reasons which would be to generate help for people in these situations. However, media do tend to present this as the norm of daily life for people in the Appalachian Mountains which are simply not true. I have posted a few outside links below to follow to other areas where news reports and views on this subject have been posted and debated.

Harlan County is a great place to attend off-roading events and activities. However, there are other events in Harlan County that have a high turnout and provide fun, festivities and entertainment.

• Kentucky Black Bear Festival


• Poke Sallet Festival


• Goin Back to Harlan Bluegrass Festival


• Festival of the Mountain Masters

Due to the recent surge of Black Bears in Harlan County over the past couple of years many folks come to the area just to get a glimpse of one. Common places for bears to be seen in Harlan County are in Cumberland park as well as many of the area coal mines in the Highsplint area.

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