Editing Letcher County, Kentucky (section)

=== Formation ===
[[File:Map of Letcher County, Kentucky - 1911.jpeg|left|thumb|200x200px|Map of Letcher County in 1911]]
In 1842, the residents of modern-day Letcher County petitioned the state legislature for a new county, as at that time they belonged to Harlan, Perry, and [[Pike County, Kentucky|Pike]] counties. The legislature met in January 1842, and decided to form the new county.<ref name=":8">{{Cite news |date=2021-12-26 |title=The History of the Letcher County Courthouse |url=http://kytnliving.com/the-history-of-the-letcher-county-courthouse/ |access-date=2024-05-09 |work=Kentucky Tennessee Living |language=en-US}}</ref> The county was formed, as Kentucky's 95th county, from portions of Harlan, Perry, and Pike counties, and named for Robert P. Letcher, who was the governor of Kentucky at that time. Its county seat, Whitesburg, was called Summit City before becoming the county seat. The city was renamed from Summit City to Whitesburg in 1842, in honor of [[John White (Kentucky politician)|John D. White]], who introduced the county's enactment bill in the [[Kentucky General Assembly]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=County History |url=http://www.whyletchercounty.org/county-history.html |access-date=May 23, 2023 |website=Letcher County |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Rennick" /> The state government commissioned members of the general assembly to draw the boundaries for the new county. These men were Nathaniel Collins, Stephen Hiram Hogg, Benjamin Adams, and Benjamin Webb.<ref name=":8" /> In 1858, 60 square miles from Perry County were added to the county's original 340 square miles. In April 1884, a ten-mile section from Pike County was added, and a month later, Letcher County contributed 80 square miles toward the creation of [[Knott County, Kentucky|Knott County]].<ref name=":0" />