Every summer break from school, my brother and I spent with Grandparents..From Letcher County to Pound, we traveled all the beauty and history of this outstanding area

I'm from Louisville but helped build probably the last coal burning power plant, Virginia City Hybrid Energy in St Paul, VA about 45 minutes or so from Jenkins. I worked with folks from Jenkins, Pound Gap, Wise, and that entire area. Great people and beautiful country.

I’ve lived in Tn all my life the 70’s were rough we done without on a lot of stuff but I wouldn’t trade them memories for anything on this earth

Very valuable historical documentary on our beautiful Jenkins...ty so much! Such a gift this is!

I still have the doll Santa brought me for Christmas 1949 from the company store in Dunham. I remember my Dad, Ford Shockey, coming home covered in coal dust and the only thing you could see was the white of his eyes.

I absolutely enjoyed this video. Thank you for posting. My mother was born & raised in Kentucky 1942.. I'm not exactly sure but I believe it was Hazard.. her father was a coal minor. My father was born & raised in Gallatin Tennessee 1930.. They met in Indiana & moved to Texas where my brothers & I were born & raised... Im 41 now & I have my own family, house & land... however I still dream of going back to Kentucky... I guess I have the mountains & hollers in my blood. Every summer we would go visit family up there & I absolutely loved it.

Grateful thanks for posting this History should not be lost to the sands of time. Our nation was heated and power by generators from coal and it's miners had no idea it's risk from breathing the dust. Small town stores of any nation or people are rich with true history Thanks

My grandfather, an immigrant from Albania, settled in Jenkins. He owned the only restaurant in town, the Jenkins Inn, the white pool room , the colored pool room and the eatery in the rec center. My uncle, Milt Ticco went to the University of Kentucky and was an All American basketball player there. He was born in Jenkins in 1922, my mother in 1924, with an older brother born in Greece, and a younger daughter born in the early 1930’s in Jenkins. I grew up hearing stories about the wonderful times growing up there. My Uncle Milt was proud to be a Kentucky Colonel and the government sent condolences when my mother passed in Philadelphia in 2018.

great video. lots of good history. so much of it is lost in time.

Fantastic story! Beautiful area too.

Great content! As a coal miner, of which I’m proud, being from Letcher Co is an honor ...it’s great to see such informative videos like this.

Thanks! I’m from Maine but have been through Jenkins many times. There’s lots of history I didn’t know in this video.

You did a great job on this. I enjoy things like this. My Mom's family came from Paintsville , Kentucky. My in-laws came from Auxier, Ky. Auxier was just a little coal mine camp (village, town). I've been there visiting. Very interesting compared to the neighborhood I grew up in. Really appreciate you taking the time to put this together.

I love this! I’m from Neon. So many of this still stands. Thanks for this information

What a beautifully done story. Thank you. Please do a story on how our ancestors gave thier lives in those mines. The men and thier sons sometimes as young as 12 to 14 years old would go to work with thier father's in those mines. And get killed due to accidents because of the unsafe working conditions. And how they struggled every day with starvation and disease... And how the mine owners or coal companies didn't give a damn about them. Miners were in debt to the owners all thier short lives. They were treated like dirt not this bed of roses decribed in this beautiful story. Many of my ancestors were miners in these areas. Read the bureau of mining accidents and statistics and it will tell the story of our families that died in those mines making the rich richer. Like I said it's a beautiful story but a sad ending.

Loved this, spent all my summers in Deane growing up. Still own 40 acres w family cemetery which has both Confederate & Yankees from same family.

Very interesting. Amazing how they built the area up.

This is a great video. I know every place you're talking about. I'm from Pennington Gap,and I have lived in Norton Coburn Big Stone Gap. Love the history lesson. I never knew. Thank you and God Bless

Great documentary. I have lot's of family history in Jenkins. I have only been there a couple of times in my life. I hope to return soon to show my family this wonderful place.

my dads family is from Jenkins. my granpa , James O'Dell worked in the mines. my dad , Wayne O'Dell was born there in 1927, my uncle Alan in 1929 my grandma's maiden name was Wells. I remember going there as teenager to help grandpa cut grass and take care of his house. hated it then , but love the memories now

My entire family and i was borned and raised there... my mom was borned in payne gap.. my Grandfather was the mayor of Jenkins and Pastor of the payne gap freewill Baptist Church.. our family grave yard is down in payne gap goes back to the 1633.. I grew up in mudtown.. as did my aunt's and uncle's.. they all graduate from Jenkins high.. My mom's dad is Rev Ezra Johnson and my dad's, dad is Dr.John Weaverling.. my dad was borned in Jenkins and grew up in Pound Va..

The Wise Co, Va area is where my great grandmother ended up. Julia Hartman Hensley. She died in 1935.

What an excellent historic acvount! I learned a lot. Hello from Alberta Canada 😉🇨🇦

I went to school in pound va. On the other side of the mountain I was in Jenkins many many times

Great job love it makes me proud to be a Cavalier

My family is from Letcher County Kentucky although we now live in Franklin Kentucky Letcher County will always be where I was raised I was born in Jenkins Kentucky and I remember all the family and all the good times with from Letcher County Kentucky Thanks for the Memories My Family's last name is Fleming August 5th 2020

Thank you!! Great job!!

very good! its great

Excellent

My mom and dad was born in Jenkins, letcher county KY, nice little town

Wow, this what quite a story but the ending was sad It must have really been nice to live there back in those days, but maybe not so nice for the hard working Miners. And, how many died from accidents n lung cancer? My Grand Father n Dad both worked in the Mines n told of terribly hard times they went through along w many other people who worked in the Mines too n their Family Struggles, etc....

Love the country those woods rain Forrest is our lives period time is running out!!!

To answer the legitimate question on a comment I had to remove due to content, Whitesburg became the county seat in the late 1800's when Letcher County was formed from land that was originally part of Knott, Floyd, and Pike Counties. At the time of its forming the only towns of any size were Whitesburg, Letcher, and Chip now Neon. The petition to the state for the new county came from the small town of Letcher and was thusly named "Letcher County." Although Letcher would become a fair-sized coal camp town after the coal boom, the town of Whitesburg held the only post office in the new county and to expedite county business the county seat was established in the older town of Whitesburg. On another historical fact, the town of Chip would eventually become the largest town in the county far surpassing all others with over 100 businesses. There have been many speculations as to how the town became known as NEON but I believe that Fess Whitaker gives us valuable information on that in his book "The History of Corporal Fess Whitaker." In his book, he tells a story about his campaign to become Jailor. He talks about a conductor aboard the passenger train he was riding and that the train was not scheduled to stop in Chip as it passed through the town heading towards the end of the line in McRoberts (about 5 miles between the towns) but the train would slow down and the black conductor would hold on to the train hanging out over the station platform and yell out "Any on, Any on, Any on" if anyone replied the conductor would pull the emergency stop line and the train would stop so the passenger(s) could board the train for the short ride to Fleming and McRoberts... Now think about what that conductor said as the train passed through the town of Chip... "N E on, N E on, N E on" to me this seems more plausible than any other story about how the town got its name. ...Dave

Nice well done story, the way history should always be done. Observe ,don't express judgment on situations and people. Consol Coal started with such high expectations of eventual payback, and no other way would Jenkins have ever come into existence. The truly sad story is how without diversification of occupations, the US federal govt lets towns die when the founding company pulls out. Without high general education, people are reluctant to move when there is little prospect in the next place. Small towns are great, if the owner families don't treat the worker families unfairly. Farms and scenery trump apartments and concrete jungles. Easier to raise kids also.

Thanks 😊 my home place 🥰🙏🥰

MY DAD FROM THERE

Hillbillies in my dna..my mom's family from perry county...ky.. grma had 12 kids,back in her day..we hav two still here..an uncle in indiana, an aunt in georgia..still distant ones I'm sure in hills,I'm sure..love anything with mountains ... he is 79, she is 92....her health,way better than his.....thanx for video..sent it to her...

Great story my family was from Pound Va.

👍👍👍👍👍

Nice story, appreciate the effort. I have one small complaint that I hear all the time in stories such as this. Pleeeeeease be sure to use the word CAValry and not CALvary. One little letter can give a word such a vast difference in meaning. One is a regiment of mounted soldiers ........ the other is where Christ died on the cross. Sorry, English major.

Kenny Baker, Bluegrass fiddler was from Jenkins.

The one person who did not like the video. Probably from Tennessee

We took a wrong turn ended up here with our tour bus (Gospel group), These were the unfriendliest people ALL of us ever saw!,We thought we wouldn't get out alive!. Serious!!.

Tell the story of Pulaski county ky. And the mining there or Hazard ,KY.

Is there a place I could get this on a DVD for my day?

Whats the first fiddle tune called? Anyone know?

Hey my maiden is Jenkins🙂

Thanks, the sound is much better now.....:) Do you know anyone there that has videos of Jenkins you could borrow and do a video of Jenkins and all of Lakeside and the new houses that were build on the hill behind where Dr. Perry used to live ? I hear there are some real nice homes there, I never did see them.....I alway forget to go there when I would come in.....haven't been back in a few yrs. don't have many relatives there anymore ....only have one sister there now, and some nieces & nephews and some cousins.....everyone else is gone or have moved away...... we keep up by phone or Private msgs. , that's about it..... I know my sister said they used to do videos of the big parade & different things there in Aug. that came to Whitesburg every year......would be nice if someone could show those videos on You Tube.........hope someone sees this and does this.....

born in Jenkins

We do history on this page not politics. From this point forward any and all comments will be deleted and the pages will be reported.

Small town

This is where my great great uncle Greenberry Harris was killed at Killing Rock

My maternal family is from Letcher County.. While Jenkins "was" a success story at the time, the concept of these towns was socialism at it's best. It failed not only because of the decline of coal, but because the socialistic model was not sustainable. One company, no competition and little opportunity to invest in other businesses with the monopoly of the coal company and it's ownership of the entirety.....

If information is all correct well then Thanks.

The music sounds like Irish music.

Although I love the report you have made a glaring error in this report. You keep referring to the mountain above Jenkins, Ky, as "Cumberland Mountain". You stated that they crossed "Cumberland Mountain to go to Pound, Va." This is incorrect as Cumberland Mountain is approximately 25 air miles east of this mountain, runs parallel to it to the Tennessee border, and is the sister mountain to this mountain . The correct name of the mountain that runs from Elkhorn City, Ky,, by Jenkins, Ky, to Tennessee is the "PINE MOUNTAIN". You called the fault on Elkhorn Creek the Cumberland Fault. It is actually the Pine Mountain fault and is one of many in that area. The Cumberland fault rises 30 miles east in the opposite direction and forms Cumberland Mountain. Seen from from the air the two mountains run straight as an arrow to the southwest, and are nearly identical in their appearance and direction but face opposite directions. The "Cumberland Valley" watershed for the Cumberland River, lies over the ridge from Jenkins. Many older people in this area have also mistakenly called it "Cumberland Mountain" but the actual name on all geological maps is Pine Mountain.

Pound Gapp

3:13 - Third from left, "Gooseneck" John Branham.

I played football against Jenkins. In 4 meetings they didn't score.

This area is now a sacrifice zone?

I grew up in Floyd county Kentucky and I'll tell ya what if you didn't believe in the Lord you just didn't belong because you live by the book and what that means is you live to respect your elders you treat friends like family and the real family is what it was all about everyone helped each other as best as we all could there was down right hard work if you didn't work you got nothin there was no handouts and nobody accepted charity. This here's what's wrong with humanity nobody lives by them there rules no more everyone just expects handouts to take care of them lazy people will rob ya take advantage of you no respect and I'll tell ya another thing Jesus Christ done told us about these times were in he says this is exactly how it's be in the last days but it sure don't make it any easier cuz I'd rather see humans forget about all this materialistic crap that don't mean diddly scwat and start putting love and care and kindness and compassion and empathy back in there hearts. The bible tells us the mark of the beast is here and once you take it you no longer belong to God for eternity and that you will go through a conscience hell forever without end... literally ever. Now I know some folks don't believe that but just as Jesus said Satan is the father of all lies and his greatest lie of all time is convincing people that he and none of the bible is real.

Please realize that no modifier belongs with the word "unique". The word stands alone!

8/2/20 I agree with someone on here the Music is too loud &, kinda annoying.....do you really need it? Way too loud near the end of the video.....hate loud music on videos.....

I wonder ?

Music too loud to hear the speaking person.

stra-tig-rif-ee, not "strat-e-graphee"

This makes "a Coal Miner" sound like a most desirable Profession. (We all know that was/is not the case.) Is this a Modern Day Propaganda effort to present the History of Appalachia and all the Corporatist Elite appear as if it was a location that had Human Interest as the primary concern before *"Profits"?* This narrative sounds like it was written by Edward Bernays himself. ...and none suffered injuries w/o benefits, none acquired Black Lung, and all were compensated relative to the vast profits the owner enjoyed" ... right. This truly offends my education and intelligence.

What "trumpy" wanted to return YOU to!

Creepy!

Coal has a nasty history of poverty and poor corporate conduct. Wish the story had a good ending. Sounds like the story started with the best of intentions and high hopes. At the best of times it was extremely unhealthy and dangerous work for many. I saw friend's father's coughing and dying from The Black lung. They got out of the mine and took their family to Ohio to die.