Nestled in the Northeast corner of Harlan County, just a few miles from the Virginia state line, are the Tri-Cities of Cumberland, Benham, and Lynch.  The three have been linked for almost a hundred years, drawn together not only by proximity but by a history and culture that continues to define them.  Theirs is the story of the opening of the mountains of eastern Kentucky to the outside world as the coal boom of the early 1900’s came to the region.  It is also the story of how they have strived to redefine themselves as the abundant natural resource which sustained them now plays but a minor role in their economy. 

 

They have turned to cultural tourism as one means to rebuild the economy, and, ironically, have chosen to “Tell the Story of Coal,” as the centerpiece of their economic revival. 

 

Cumberland, founded as Poor Fork, in 1837, is Harlan County largest and oldest city.  It remained largely isolated until the coal boom introduced railroads to the area, bringing in thousands of prospective miners to the area and carrying out thousands of tons of coal to the industrial centers of the U.S.  It was renamed Cumberland in 1926 in recognition of its location near the headwaters of the river by the same name.

 

With a population of just over 2,600 in 2016, Cumberland is home to Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College and its nationally-recognized Appalachian Program, which tells the story of the area’s development through song, dance, story-telling, and an archive, the Kingdom Come State Park, and a regional library named for one of the nation’s foremost children’s authors, Rebecca Caudill, who grew up in the community.

 

Benham’s history is interwoven with that of the International Harvester Company, which built the community and began mining coal there in 1910-11 to supply its steel mills in the Midwest.  Now home to the Kentucky Coal Museum and the Schoolhouse Inn, which are housed in the community’s former commissary and school, Benham contains several other historically-significant structures as well as one of the region’s most picturesque downtowns.  While its population is now only 500, it reached well over 3,000 when coal mining was at its height.

 

Lynch’s history, like that of Benham, is intertwined with one of America’s industrial giants of the 20th Century, U. S. Steel, which plotted the company town to house coal miners in 1917.  With a hotel, bowling alleys, theaters, and other amenities found only in much larger communities, Lynch was recognized as one of the best-developed towns in eastern Kentucky for many years. 

 

By the 1940’s its population, drawn from almost 40 countries, had grown to over 10,000.  Many of its historic structures still stand, including several churches, Soloman’s Porch, formerly a Catholic-operated hospital and now headquarters to a faith-based ministry, and one of few depots in the region constructed with brick.  With a population of 750, Lynch attracts thousands of visitors annually to Portal 31, once an operating mine, which is now recognized for housing the nation’s best underground mine tour.  The community is proudly celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2017.

 

Located adjacent to Cumberland, Benham, and Lynch is the smaller communities of Blair, Cloverlick, Clutts, Hiram, Sandhill &Totz.