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Lynch Kentucky

  • Lynch, Kentucky was built in 1917 by US Steel Corporation, which owned and ran the 'Cadillac' of coal mining towns

  • At its height, the town had 10,000 residents and 4,000 employees working in the mines and at least 38 nationalities represented 

  • But as coal declined, so did Lynch, though US Steel stayed involved in the town until it sold its mines in 1984 

  • Lynch continued to get worse and today the town has only 649 residents and is barely making it financially

  • As the town turns 100 this year, residents are doing all they can to keep their town afl

Decline of the town that coal built: 100 years after it sprang up to fuel the steel industry, attracting 10,000 residents from 38 nations, Lynch is home to just 650 people and struggles to survive
 

It was the 'Cadillac' of coal mining towns in its heyday. Unlike other coal mining towns at the time, Lynch, Kentucky had beautiful public buildings, paved streets, a sewage system – a rarity for the time – plenty of recreation and some of the best health care in Southeast Kentucky.

Built by US Steel from 1917 to 1925 to supply coal demand, Lynch became the world’s largest company-owned coal town by the 1940s. The town was diverse, with 10,000 residents from at least 38 countries, because US Steel recruited immigrants from Ellis Island.

But as coal declined, so did Lynch.

Today the coal mines are mostly empty. There are 649 residents and no jobs. The tiny town in Harlan County lives month to month financially, barely able to afford to pay their five city employees or pay for maintenance and utility services each month, Mayor John Adams said last month.

Though coal died out in Lynch, it remains one of the most intact company coal towns in Kentucky. As it turns 100 this year, its well-preserved history may be its best chance for survival.



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The town was built to last,' says life-long Lynch native Reverend Ronnie Hampton, 65, who worked in the mines and served as the first black mayor.

 

Now as a pastor of a local church, he remains committed to his hometown.

‘It’s still here. There have to be industries, something, that can hold this town together… The town is just kind of going to waste.’


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Lynch, Kentucky, pictured on March 1, 1920, was built by the United States Steel Corporation from 1917 to 1925. Lynch had good infrastructure and amenities and became known as the 'Cadillac' of coal mining town.

Lynch Public High School was completed in 1924 and was used until 1981, when the school closed and students started going to schools in Cumberland

Being a coal miner, like the men pictured outside a Lynch mine, was a dangerous job. They often worked in cramped spaces deep underground with the possibility of injury from a collapsed ceiling or falling equipment. Besides immediate injuries, miners also suffered longer-term problems like joint issues and respiratory illnesses from constantly breathing in coal dust
 

Black miners could not move up to be supervisors until the 1970s, but even before that, men of different races and nationalities worked together in the mines
 

US Coal and Coke took eight years to build, starting in 1917. Pictured is the first engineering crew in Lynch in 1917. Actor Ken Maynard is the fifth from the left. He was a surveyor and learned to ride company mine mules before he went on to star in 1930s cowboy films
 

These men are new employees of US Steel and are getting a physical exam on August 6, 1920
 

Reverend Ronnie Hampton, pictured, grew up in Lynch and has lived there his whole life. He lived through school integration and became Lynch's first black mayor
 

Pictured is Lynch's coal tipple under construction on January 3, 1920

 

US Steel built its own power plant, pictured today, because the nearest public utility company was eight miles from Lynch and would have depended on a transmission over Black Mountain, Kentucky's highest peak. A company-owned plant would guarantee constant and reliable power. A building was built around the plant and it was put into service in August 1919, but today the plant is abandoned
 

Lynch had the largest capacity coal tipple in the world in the 1920s. The coal car-loading structure had a capacity of 15,000 tons. It's still standing with a partially filled coal car underneath it, but it hasn't been used in years
 

Lynch residents are pictured gathered to hear Kentucky Governor Edwin P. Morrow on October 20, 1920. Governor Morrow served as the 40th governor of the state, from 1919-1923 and was a Republican who championed equal rights for African Americans
 

Lynch Hospital was built in 1920 and had state-of-the-art equipment for its time like an X-ray machine, pictured in 1922
 

The hospital also had an operating room, pictured in 1922, public wards, private rooms, doctors' offices and nurses' quarters

These white children, pictured on October 20, 1920, were in grades 5-6

 

Schools in Lynch were segregated until the mid-1960s. These African American children, pictured on October 20, 1920, were in grades 1-4 and went to a separate school than the white children
 

I'Because US Steel recruited from Southern states as well as Ellis Island, people of at least 38 different nationalities and races filled Lynch and lived and worked side-by-side in the mines, despite school segregation in Lynch. The man pictured is mining underground.

Lynch was built from scratch and became one of the nicest coal mining towns in the country, with buildings made from locally cut sandstone. Stonemason Joe Mirabile, who crafted stone for several town buildings, is pictured in 1919

 

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