Editing Blackey, Kentucky (section)

==History==
The history of Blackey began in 1908, after local resident Jim Brown was given permission to establish a post office on Elk Creek. He decided to name the post office "Blackey", after his brother Joseph "Blackey" Brown. Due to the area's massive [[coal]] deposits, the Lexington and Eastern Railroad ran a line through Blackey in November 1912. Over the next fifteen years, Blackey was transformed from a sleepy mountain town to a bustling modern city. It was chartered in November 1912 and incorporated on January 27, 1915.<ref name="history"/> In 1913, the community became the home of the [[Stuart Robinson School]], a [[Presbyterian]] [[settlement school]] that was to operate there until 1957.<ref name=UNCA>{{citation |url=http://toto.lib.unca.edu/web_exhibits/settlement_schools_southern_appalachians/stuart_robinson/default_stuart_robinson.htm |title=Stuart Robinson School |work=Settlement Schools of the Southern Mountains |author=Helen Wykle |date=October 28, 2008 |publisher=D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina Asheville |access-date=2012-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320193252/http://toto.lib.unca.edu/web_exhibits/settlement_schools_southern_appalachians/stuart_robinson/default_stuart_robinson.htm |archive-date=2012-03-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1917, the Blackey Coal Company was established as the first coal company in the community. The company constructed thirty houses and employed eighty miners.<ref name="history">[http://appalshop.org/cbcaudill/blackey.htm History of Blackey, Kentucky] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223235423/http://appalshop.org/cbcaudill/blackey.htm |date=2012-02-23 }} Retrieved on 2010-04-10</ref>

In May 1927, a [[flash flood]] devastated the city. In one hour, the North Fork of the [[Kentucky River]] rose {{convert|18|ft}}, killing 26 people in Letcher County alone. Later in December a fire broke out, destroying most of the city's [[business district]]. Then in February 1928, another fire broke out and destroyed the rest of the town. Shortly afterwards, Blackey State Bank failed and the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] ended the prosperity of the boom town.<ref name="history"/>

Today, Blackey is home to just over 150 people, with only a few abandoned buildings and a few occupied homes on Main Street. Within the last few years, the city has seen some revitalization consisting of a [[Head Start Program|Head Start]], a new city water system, and a public [[library]].<ref name="history"/>