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Did you know? Middlesboro once had a brewery.  Originally the Overbeck Brewing, it was a brewery, cold storage, and ice manufacturing plant. It was later the New South Brewery before being used by the Schneider Packing Plant in Cumberland Gap. The land was then absorbed into the... Read More

Did you know? Dominating what was then the section between North 22nd and 24th Streets on Cumberland Avenue in Middlesboro was the Middlesborough Hotel. It is surrounded by other examples of the social living practiced by the town’s elite in the early 1890’s. At the right of the... Read More

Did you know Middlesborough had the first solid masonry core dam in the U. S.? The British built the dam to impound a large lake to provide water for the city of 100,000 they envisioned. The Middlesborough Water Company was charged with building this dam in the late 1880s. They... Read More

There were more victims of the Turner-Sowders Feud in Bell County (reputedly 27) than were killed in the notorious Hatfield-McCoy Feud, which cost 12 lives. In this connection, in both of the feuds, two persons were killed as a result of mistaken identity. Anse Hatfield sent... Read More

I remember Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter Rich Whitt from his days as a cub reporter for The Daily News. Hired by Publisher and owner Maurice Henry and Editor Rex Bailey, he came to Middlesboro right out of UK School of Journalism. He and his wife Sherry rented my... Read More

“Little Las Vegas,” “Little Chicago,” “the hottest spot on the railroad line”–that was Middlesboro in the 1940s. It was a kingdom unto itself, and island of license set in the midst of the Bible Belt, and its undisputed rulers were Floyd... Read More

The Middlesborough was built in 1889-1890 on the hill just west of the Museum. The site is now called Edgewood Court. The grand opening ball was held in April of 1890 and immediately it was necessary to construct an addition to the hotel. This brought its capacity to 120, however... Read More

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

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

“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