Editing Letcher County, Kentucky (section)

=== Settlement and early history ===
The area now known as Letcher County was first settled in the early–1800s by the Caudill, Dixon, Stamper, Collier, Lewis, Whitaker, Wright, Craft, Brown, Halcomb, Holbrook, and Bentley families. These early families were later joined by the Maggard, Banks, Day, Fields, Morgan, Blair, Breeding, Frazier, Baker, Hogg, Combs, and Mullins families. The first permanent settlement in the county was settled in 1803, at the mouth of Pert Creek, in modern-day Whitesburg. In 1804, George Ison II and his family settled in the area of [[Linefork, Kentucky|Linefork]]. Later, Benjamin Webb brought a group of settlers from [[Maryland]], and settled at the mouth of Boone Fork in modern-day [[Kona, Kentucky|Kona]], but later moved down towards the mouth of Bottom Fork in modern-day [[Mayking, Kentucky|Mayking]]. Most communities and geographic features in the area were named after these early pioneer families. Most of these early communities were economically supported by [[Logging|timber logging]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Rennick |first=Robert M. |title=Post Offices in Letcher County, Kentucky |url=https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1392&context=kentucky_county_histories#:~:text=By%201815%20the%20pioneer%20families,the%20eastern%20Kentucky%20coal%20country. |website=Morehead State University}}</ref>