Editing Prestonsburg, Kentucky (section)

==History==
The area was part of the {{convert|100000|acre|km2|adj=on}} grant in the early 1700s to the family of John Preston's wife, born Elizabeth Patton, which he administered on her behalf. The grant was intended to permit [[British colonization of the Americas|British colonization]] beyond the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]], but subsequent [[French and Indian War|French and Indian resistance]] and a [[Royal Proclamation of 1763|reversal of British policy]] limited its impact. The land was not settled until John Spurlock of [[Montgomery County, Virginia]], arrived in 1791. He laid out the town of "Preston's Station" in 1797.<ref name=ren/> It became the seat of Floyd County upon its formation in 1799 and was formally established in 1818.<ref name=sos/> The post office was known as "Floyd Court House" from its establishment in 1816 until the late 1820s, when it was renamed "Prestonsburg".<ref name=ren>Rennick, Robert. ''Kentucky Place Names'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=3Lac2FUSj_oC&pg=PA242 p. 242]. University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Accessed 1 August 2013.</ref>

On January 10, 1862, nearby [[Battle of Middle Creek|Middle Creek National Battlefield]] was the scene of the largest battle of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] to occur in [[Eastern Kentucky]]. The town was also the site of [[Prestonsburg, Kentucky bus disaster|one of the worst school bus disasters]] in American history on February 28, 1958.

The town had a [[Pack Horse Library Project|pack horse library]] in the late 1930s to bring library materials to rural mountain residents.<ref name=":10">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13531342/|title=At an 'open house' held at|date=14 May 1938|work=The Courier-Journal|access-date=3 September 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>