Editing Hyden, Kentucky (section)

==History==
The area was first settled around 1800 by the Sizemores, a mixed-blood (Anglo and Native-American) family migrating from [[North Carolina]], with a brief stay in Hawkins County, Tennessee, before making it to Kentucky. John "Rock House" Sizemore and his wife, Nancy (Bowling) Sizemore, lived in a rock house about a hundred yards up from the mouth of the creek which would later bear his name (Rockhouse Creek). John Rock House later sold the land to a Lewis man who then donated the land to the government, which became the town of Hyden. The town was established in 1878 and incorporated in 1882, and was named after John Hyden, a state senator of the time who helped form Leslie County.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Lac2FUSj_oC&q=cannon+ky&pg=PA148 | title=Kentucky Place Names | publisher=University Press of Kentucky | date=1987 | access-date=2013-04-28 | author=Rennick, Robert M. | pages=148| isbn=0813126312 }}</ref> The mountainous terrain made the region difficult to access except by river, which was no longer the dominant form of transportation by the late 19th century, hindering growth.

[[Frontier Nursing University]] opened in Hyden in 1939.

Hyden briefly came to national attention when the [[Hurricane Creek mine disaster]] occurred in late 1970, {{convert|5|mi|0}} southeast of the city.<ref name="nyt0101a">{{cite news|title=Re-check Was Overdue; Mine Where 38 Died Had Record of Safety Risks |newspaper=[[New York Times]]|date=1971-01-01|author=Franklin, Ben A.}}</ref>

In July 1978, [[Richard Nixon]] came to Hyden to make his first public speech since resigning from the presidency during the [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]] crisis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://john-ketcham.blogspot.com/2008/12/1978-nixons-first-public-speech-in.html|title=Curious Observer: 1978- Nixon's First Public Speech in Hyden, Ky.|first=Curious|last=Observer|date=17 December 2008|website=john-ketcham.blogspot.com|access-date=14 April 2018}}</ref> Hyden was picked because Judge-Executive C. Allen Muncy wrote a letter inviting him to attend the dedication of a recreation facility and Nixon wanted a town that had heavily supported his presidential runs. Leslie County Judge-Executive C. Allen Muncy claimed the Nixon invitation prompted the [[U.S. Department of Justice]] to obtain indictments of him and his associates on vote-fraud charges; while on appeal for his conviction, he won renomination in the Republican primary but lost the 1981 general election to independent Kermit Keen.<ref>"The Big Lever," Appalshop Inc., 1982</ref>