Editing Pike County, Kentucky (section)

==History==
Pike County is [[Kentucky]]'s easternmost county and its largest by [[land area]]. It is Kentucky's 11th most populous county, immediately preceded by [[Bullitt County, Kentucky|Bullitt County]] and followed by [[Christian County, Kentucky|Christian County]]. It is Kentucky's third largest banking center, with financial institutions and holding companies with more than $1 billion in assets.<ref name="monthly">{{cite news|url=http://www.egovlink.com/public_documents300/pikeville/published_documents/City%20Hall/Economic%20Development/Cityscapemarch05.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412223917/http://www.egovlink.com/public_documents300/pikeville/published_documents/City%20Hall/Economic%20Development/Cityscapemarch05.pdf |archive-date=April 12, 2012 |url-status=live|title=Pikeville: Mayberry, with muscle|date=March 2005|work=[[Kentucky Monthly]]|access-date=June 24, 2014}}</ref> Between 1995 and 2000, personal income increased by 28%, and the county's per capita income exceeded the national and state average growth rates of the previous decade.<ref name=PCCC>{{cite web|url=http://www.pikecountychamber.org/index.php?n=0&id=12 |title=Pike County, Kentucky |publisher=Pike County Chamber of Commerce |access-date=May 21, 2010 }}{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Pike County is the 71st Kentucky county in order of creation.

Pike County was founded on December 19, 1821, from a portion of [[Floyd County, Kentucky|Floyd County]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jhf4DaW0goQC&q=Pike%20County%201821&pg=PA242 | title=Encyclopedia of Kentucky | first=Nancy |last=Capace | publisher=Somerset Publishers, Inc. |year=1999 |pages=242|isbn=9780403097401 }}</ref> The county was named for [[General]] [[Zebulon Pike]], the explorer who discovered [[Pikes Peak]] and became a national hero and namesake after his death in the [[War of 1812]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_luoxAQAAMAAJ | title=The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 1 | publisher=Kentucky State Historical Society | year=1903 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_luoxAQAAMAAJ/page/n36 36]}}</ref> Between 1860 and 1891 the [[Hatfield-McCoy feud]] raged in Pike and in bordering [[Logan County, West Virginia]] (now [[Mingo County, West Virginia|Mingo County]]). On May 6, 1893, [[Pikeville, Kentucky|Pikeville]] officially became a city and the county seat.

Pike County is also home to former [[governor of Kentucky]] [[Paul E. Patton]].

The Appalachian News Express, published in Pikeville, is preserved on microfilm by the [[University of Kentucky]] Libraries. The microfilm holdings are listed in a master negative database on the university's Libraries Preservation and Digital Programs website.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lib.uky.edu/repro/ |title=UK Libraries Master Negative Microfilm Database |access-date=February 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228204904/http://lib.uky.edu/repro/ |archive-date=December 28, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>