Harlan County, Kentucky: History
Eastern Kentucky is believed to have supported a large Archaic Native American population in prehistoric time. Cliff dwellings were used by successive cultures as residences and at times for burials. In 1923, an Indian Cliff Dwelling was discovered near Bledsoe, Kentucky Historical tribes in this area included the Cherokee and Shawnee.
Before the American Revolutionary War, the area presently bounded by state lines was considered to be part of the Virginia colony. In 1780, the Virginia state legislature divided Kentucky County into three counties: Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln. In 1791 - as part of the state of Kentucky - these were incorporated into the new nation. In 1799, part of Lincoln County was divided to create Knox County. Harlan County was formed in 1819 from a part of Knox County and named after Silas Harlan who built a log stockade near Danville, which was known as "Harlan's Station". His grand-nephew was U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan .
Due to increasing population, in 1842 part of the county split off to become Letcher County in 1842; Bell County was likewise established in 1867. In 1878, the northwestern area was partitioned to form part of Leslie County.
In 1924, Conda Uless (Ulysses) "Condy" Dabney was convicted in the county of murdering a person who was later found alive.
Coal mining was the only major resource in the county and was exploited to fuel the growth of early 20th century industry. When the Great Depression struck in 1930 and demand for coal reduced, often-violent confrontations between strikers, strikebreakers, mine company security forces, and law enforcement were termed the Harlan County Wars. After the Battle of Evarts, May 5, 1931, Kentucky governor Flem D. Sampson called in the National Guard to restore order.
Ballads sung on the picket line at the Brookside mine in Harlan County were captured on film by documentarian John Gaventa. The county was the subject of the documentary film Harlan County, USA (1976), directed by Barbara Kopple. It documented organizing during a second major period of labor unrest in the 1970s, particularly around the Brookside Strike.
In 2019, the county was the site of the 2019 Harlan County coal miners protest, one in a long history of coal mining. Coal miners demanded back payment from a coal company that fired them shortly after declaring bankruptcy. They occupied a railroad track and prevented a coal train from leaving the county for almost two months.