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I havent seen anyone from Eastern Kentucky on here for awhile..Seems like the only time we show up is when we get insulted, otherwise looks like most of us are pretty quiet. We have so much to offer here and to proud of, Lets tell people what is good about Eastern Ky. , and why we love it. Also would like to hear from some transplants other than my self who love it here.
Blue - I'd be interested in knowing more about eastern KY - what do you like about it and are there services, doctors, a choice of hospitals, shopping, good markets, etc.? How is the crime? Looking forward to some answers.
Catnap, first of all, I was not born here, but have spent the past thirty years here. I came from Ohio, around Dayton. As a child, I was always fascinated with mountains and the culture of the people who lived there. I guess it was just fate that I met a man while I was in the Army who was from here. We didn't settle here until our children were in school, but made many trips to visit his family..Any way here is what I love about Eastern Ky. (Pike County, in particular) First , let me introduce our people . We love to smile, and wave even if we don't know you. When we ask how you are, we really want to know how you are. We want to know who your "Daddy" was, because we may be related or know someone who is. We won't look down on you, because of your education, income, or type of dwelling you call home. If your car breaks down on the road, we will stop to help you..Please understand that this is what MOST of us are like. We are part of the modern world, and have modern problems like everyone else. We have incidents of crime and drug abuse, also,but this thread is about the good things.
I've only talked about the people in this post, because I hope that other East Ky. folks will reply about the other good things..
i was born and raised in n.c. and move a lot. my parents and their parents were born and raised in se ky owsley co. jackson co,etc. the generation before came to ky from tn, nc, and the virginias. i correspond with a cousin in sadieville above lexington. keep thinking about visiting her and finding other relatives. posted messages on gene. webs to find rel. found few,but none stayed in contact as they were only interested in researching family line. some of names, lee, ambrose,madden farmer,pendergrass,thompson,gray,mays,brandenburg, flanery,clouse
juta, Thompson is a very common name here, I hope that someone can reply with a site about the Thompsons. In fact, my husband is related to them also. I will check around his relatives and see if any one has a webpage you can go to. The Thompsons are a huge family with ties to about everyone in Eastern K.
Pike County is now the heart of Eastern KY. It has a fairly major hospital and an osteopathic medical school. There is still somewhat a shortage of doctors, but not like other rural areas in the mountains. Shopping is fairly limited, but many of the major middle class chains are located there. I think you would have to drive about 30 minutes into Barboursville, WV for a Target or something like that, though.
Despite the stereotypes, people in eastern KY are not mountain hillbillies (although they do have the hillbillies days festival which is fun ). Like someone said, they are just regular friendly people, probably more friendly than most "city" people. The quality of life is high, and violent crime is virtually nonexistant. There is a fair amount of domestic crime and much of it seems to be related to prescription pill and methamphetamine use. In fact, some counties in Eastern KY are among the highest abusers of Oxycontin (oxycodone) which is a Schedule II opiate-narcotic. Many areas remain very poor, and the state is working on attracting more jobs to the mountain region. Many people remain employed in coal mining an manual labor professions, and the education level is below the national mean and the poverty is above the national mean in many areas.
Anyone interested in demographic data should use the US Census site, as it is the only reliable source of information for this data.
Excellent post. Thanks for mentioning Hillbilly days that are going on now. One more thing about East Ky people is that we know how to make lemonade!!About thirty some years ago our local shriners gathered all the lemons thrown at our speech and culture. They have raised thousands of dollars each year for the Shriners children's Hospital in Lexington. "Outhouse clans" from all over the country come to participate..
I have lots of good things to say about eastern Kentucky! (Harlan county)
The black bear, elk and wild turkey population is re-establishing through-out the mountains once again which translates to a hunters paradise although you can't hunt black bear which is federally protected! There is a park called Kingdom Come State Park where you can normally see the bears come out at dusk.
I've been all over the country and still favor that region of Kentucky the most. It has the most down-to-earth people you will find anywhere in this country. (of course, opinions may vary...) There was a poster on city-data who replied that Toyota management, while describing Kentucky, referred it to the 'heart of the nation'. I proudly have to agree!
I love the church(es) in southeastern Kentucky! (Dione Baptist Church) Actually felt at ease about attending church which i haven't felt anywhere else.
There is a souvenir shop called Pork Fork Arts and Craft which has a large assortment of amusing and interesting 'hillbilly art' created by the locals. (my grandpa and grandma are part of the guild...)
There is now a festival/annual event where ATVers can ride through the mountains (called Black Mountain) which is ranked #1 by ATV Patherfinder.com! It tends to be a big draw with lots of out-of-staters flocking to the isolated area which helps boost the economy.
There is a patch of old-growth/ancient forest called Lily Cornett Woods worth visiting!
Here is the link:http://www.naturalareas.eku.edu/lcw.php (broken link)
There is also Interstates Break Park which has been referred to a 'mini-Grand Canyon' is also located in eastern Kentuck/Virginia border.
Here is the link:http://www.breakspark.com/index.php?n=55&id=55
Eastern Kentucky has been losing population to the 'highway' (I-75) for some time now. For those of you that like mountains, rural life and isolation, now is the time to find your 'slice of heaven' through-out mountains.
(a few good words of eastern/southeastern Kentucky for now...)
Last edited by Blue Grass Fever; 04-20-2007 at 05:10 PM..
I was born in E. KY but never lived there past the age of 2. I was one of those tens-of-thousands of kids who were stolen from poor Appalachians during the 30's, 40's and 50's.
I have a couple hundred years worth of relatives in Kentucky graveyards - them having come from VA or SC and NC and of course, previously from the UK and nearby countries.
I belong to a couple of genealogy sites dealing with Boyd, Elliot, Magoffin, Floyd, Pike counties among others. Guess I haven't been looking but do not currently recall Thompsons - will definitely start paying attention. At one time, I was in 8 sites - 7 dealing with E. KY.
Many of the folks I research with are living there or visit there often. They are in love with the place. I used to travel thru but not extensively in E. KY. Was back in Boyd recently. The pics are awesome and the folks who live there love it. There are many efforts afoot to find and reclaim old graveyards ... and there seem to be countless numbers of those - as the interests in genealogy and family histories continues to grow.
The Cumberland Plateau is an area generally encompassing parts of 6 states (OH, WVA, VA, NC, TN, KY). It was traditionally a hunting and fishing area for the Cherokee (who lived to the south of it) and the Shawnee (who lived to the north). Neither lived there permanently as it was considered too high in elevation (bad weather), and too rocky to farm and while both tribes were basically at war forever, they left each other alone while they shared those areas recreationally. Much of KY was established by land-grants given as "bonuses" to Rev. War participants and later, the War of 1812 participants. It was, at that time, considered partial-nirvanah to the new land-owners and based on what I've read ... still is!
Thank you for adding so much to this forum. So glad to see you here. Atv information is interesting. Almost everyone has one. There is also the Hatfield-McCoy trail..Someone let everyone know about the feud!!
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). Like someone said, they are just regular friendly people, probably more friendly than most "city" people. The quality of life is high, and violent crime is virtually nonexistant. There is a fair amount of domestic crime and much of it seems to be related to prescription pill and methamphetamine use. In fact, some counties in Eastern KY are among the highest abusers of Oxycontin (oxycodone) which is a Schedule II opiate-narcotic. Many areas remain very poor, and the state is working on attracting more jobs to the mountain region. Many people remain employed in coal mining an manual labor professions, and the education level is below the national mean and the poverty is above the national mean in many areas.
