Where in the World is Blackey?

The Appalachian Mountains run roughly parallel to the Atlantic Coast, extending as far north as Newfoundland and as far south as Alabama. Blackey and Letcher County are located in the central part of Appalachia, where coal mining has been the predominant industry for the past century.

This is a land of steep hills, rugged mountains, broad valleys, narrow hollows, swift creeks and wide rivers, formed by millions of years of erosion. The world's largest deposits of anthracite and bituminous coal are found in Appalachia, along with large amounts of oil, gas asbestos, limestone, marble, granite, iron ore and other minerals.This coal mining culture shaped the Blackey community and the C.B. Caudill Store.

Before the first European settlers arrived in Appalachia in the late 18th century, Native Americans had lived in Kentucky for 12,000 years. The earliest known evidence of humans in Kentucky was found in Perry County, a neighbor of Letcher County. These early groups were hunters and gatherers.

The first European settlers to Appalachia were primarily English, Scottish and Irish people who found in the mountains a place to escape the bustling eastern cities, own their own land and enjoy privacy and personal freedom. The lack of plentiful farm lands and the general isolation of the mountains ensured that there were never a great many settlers in the region. After the Civil War, rapid industrialization in America brought railroads to Appalachia, along with demand for the region's timber and coal. By 1910, three-fourths of Appalachia's timber and 80 percent of its mineral reserves had been sold to outside investors. Many mountaineers left their farms to work in these industries alongside Southern blacks and European immigrants who came to work the new coalfields. Much of the wealth went to corporations outside the region.

Today, the destructive effects of strip mining can be seen on mountain tops and ridges. The local economy has suffered as demand for eastern Kentucky coal has declined. Yet communities such as Blackey, rich in folk culture, survive despite these conditions.

last update 01/08/01 sjr