Editing Pineville, Kentucky (section)

==History==
Pineville is one of the oldest settlements in Kentucky, located at the crossing of the Cumberland River by the [[Wilderness Road]]. It was established as '''Cumberland Ford''' in 1781 and formed part of [[list of governors of Kentucky|Governor]] [[Isaac Shelby]]'s land tracts. When Bell County was formed in 1867, Cumberland Ford was formally laid off; local landowner J.J. Gibson's 1869 land grant permitted it to be selected as the county seat, but the courthouse was not completed until 1871.<ref name=ren>Rennick, Robert. ''Kentucky Place Names'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=3Lac2FUSj_oC&pg=PA235 p. 235]. University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Accessed 1 August 2013.</ref><ref name=kye>{{cite book |author=Rennick, Robert M. |title=''Kentucky Place Names'' |year=1988 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |location=[[Lexington, Kentucky]] |isbn=0-8131-0179-4 |chapter=Place Names}} Accessed 25 April 2010.</ref> The settlement was renamed "Pineville" in 1870 and formally incorporated in 1873.<ref name=sos/>

One of the earliest branches of the Sojourner Truth Woman's Christian Temperance Union ([[WCTU]]) was formed in Pineville in 1906 with 15 members - at the time, it was affiliated with the white women's branch of the Kentucky WCTU.<ref>{{cite web | title = Negro Woman's Christian Temperance Union in Kentucky (Sojourner Truth WCTU) | website = Notable Kentucky African American Database | publisher = University of Kentucky Libraries | url = http://nkaa.uky.edu/record.php?note_id=2526 | access-date= 2 March 2014}}</ref>

Its riverside location has made it subject to flooding, including a devastating incident on April 4, 1977, in which a [[floodwall]] built in 1952 was overwhelmed and 200 houses were destroyed or damaged. The [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]] upgraded the floodwall in 1988.

The economy is dependent on the [[coal mining]] industry, local family owned businesses and on tourism. Many enjoy visiting [[Pine Mountain State Resort Park]], where the popular attraction "Chained Rock" is located. Thanks to works done by the community organization Main Street Pineville, the town is working on revitalizing downtown Pineville to its historical roots.

Every Memorial Day weekend (from Wednesday to Sunday) the town of Pineville welcomes all to the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival, named for the Mountain Laurel flower which grows wild on Pine Mountain. The first Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival was presented in 1931 at the suggestion of Annie Walker Burns, a descendant of Dr. Thomas Walker, the first European to enter Kentucky and who, along with a party of explorers, visited the present site of Pineville in 1750. Burns was captivated by the history and beauty surrounding Pineville and appealed to Governor [[Flem D. Sampson]] of Barbourville to initiate some type of event to honor Dr. Walker. She gained the support of other influential Bell Countians, and the 1931 Festival was staged at Clear Creek Springs on June 4.<ref name="kmlf.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.kmlf.org/index.php/history |title=Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival - History |website=www.kmlf.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726231246/http://www.kmlf.org/index.php/history |archive-date=2011-07-26}}</ref>