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The Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival began in 1931. This year will be 85th year for the festival. The festival was established as  a way of honoring Dr. Thomas Walker (a pioneer explorer) by Mrs. Annie Walker Burns, her famous ancestor. The festival features many events... Read More

Our book of the month for May is Repressions, a collection of poems by William S. Tribell, Tina Twito, and J. L. Carey, Jr. The Bell County Historical Society Museum at 207 N. 20th St., Middlesboro, KY. will be hosting a book signing on May 14th at 4 PM. Hors d’oeuvres will... Read More

On behalf of the Bell County Historical Society Museum, we would like to thank Al Brock and Rick Nelson for the Coal Severance contribution. This money will allow us to keep the doors open to the public and maintain the old Carnegie Library building as our museum. Read More

This past year the Bell County Historical Society Museum has had visitors from all across the United States and Canada, as well as from England and South Africa. There were 714 visitors from 38 states, one from Canada, one from England, and two from South Africa totaling 718. Read More

Establishment of Bell County, Kentucky   Bell County, at first was known as Josh Bell for whom it was named, was established by an act of the Legislature on September 8, 1867 from portions of Knox and Harlan Counties. It was the one hundred twelfth county formed in the state... Read More

Photos Courtesy of William Tribell Read More

Stop by the museum and see the Art Display. A big thank you to artists Anastasia Esperanza Higginbotham and Katherine Barnett, for participating in our search for local art. The art will be kept on display for 3 months. We would also like to thank Anastasia for the donation of... Read More

“The late 1930s, and on into the much more prosperous 1940s, especially the World War II years, saw Middlesborough as more or less a ‘wide open’ town. The town had the reputation, deserved or not, of being ‘pretty wild’ and alcoholic beverages were... Read More

The Bell County Historical Society and Museum in Middlesboro is looking for art produced by local artists. The museum is planning an exhibit of artwork showcasing paintings, drawings or sculpture created by local high school students and students from any other area who have a... Read More

The Bell County Historical Society and Museum is looking for local art. The museum is planning an exhibit of art work – paintings, drawings or sculpture – created by local high school students and students from other areas who have a connection to Bell County. “We... Read More