Pikeville (U.S.A.)

Pikeville is a city in and the county seat of Pike County, Kentucky, United States. During the 2010 U.S. Census, the population within Pikeville's city limits was 6,903. In Kentucky's current city classification system, Pikeville is a home rule-class city, a category that includes all of the state's more than 400 cities except for the two largest, Louisville and Lexington.

History

On March 25, 1822, state officials decided to build a new county seat named "Liberty", 1.5 miles (2.4 km) below the mouth of the Russell Fork River. Public disapproval of the site led a new decision on December 24, 1823, to establish the county seat on land donated by local farmer Elijah Adkins. This settlement was established as the town of Pike after the county in 1824. This was changed in 1829 to Piketon and the town was incorporated under that name in 1848. In 1850, this was changed to the present Pikeville. Pikeville was host to a part of the Hatfield-McCoy feud, and patriarch Randall McCoy as well as his wife and daughter are buried on a hillside overlooking the town.

The National Civic League designated Pikeville as an All-American City in 1965.

From 1973 to 1987, the Pikeville Cut-Through was constructed immediately west of downtown. The massive rock cut is one of the largest civil engineering projects in the western hemisphere, moving nearly 18,000,000 cubic yards (14,000,000 m3) of soil and rock. The project alleviated traffic congestion in downtown and eliminated flooding by rerouting the Levisa Fork River.

The city has been a center of rapid development in Eastern Kentucky since the 1990s. Pikeville College (now the University of Pikeville) opened the Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1997. The university is currently planning to open its school of optometry, the first in Central Appalachia, in 2016. In October 2005, the 7,000 seat, multi-purpose Eastern Kentucky Exposition Center opened in downtown. Pikeville Medical Center has established itself as a regional healthcare center. In 2013, construction began on a shopping center known as Pikeville Commons. The first stores opened in the shopping center in October 2014. In 2014, a new 11-story clinic and a 10-story parking structure was completed at a cost of $150 million. The hospital has also become a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network.

Culture

Hillbilly Days is an annual festival held in mid-April in Pikeville, Kentucky celebrating the best of Appalachian culture. The event began by local Shriners as a fundraiser to support the Shriners Children's Hospital. It has grown since its beginning in 1976 and now is the second largest festival held in the state of Kentucky. Artists and craftspeople showcase their talents and sell their works on display. Nationally renowned musicians as well as the best of the regional mountain musicians share six different stages located throughout the downtown area of Pikeville. Want-to-be hillbillies from across the nation compete to come up with the wildest Hillbilly outfit. Fans of "mountain music" come from around the United States to hear this annual concentrated gathering of talent. The festival embraces the area's culture and past through company, music, and costume. The proceeds from the festival go to Shriners Hospitals for Children. The festival serves to honor and recognize the heritage of Appalachia, while poking fun at the stereotype associated with the region.

In the fall of 2005 the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center opened in downtown Pikeville. The center, which seats 7,000, features numerous events including world-renowned concerts and shows. The city is also home to the Pikeville Concert Association which secures renowned cultural events for the area. These events usually take place at Booth Auditorium on the campus of the University of Pikeville.

The Expo Center will be home to the East Kentucky Energy of the American Basketball Association starting in fall 2010, and starting in spring 2011 it became home to the Kentucky Drillers of the Continental Indoor Football League.

In the summer of 2014, Jenny Wiley Theatre opened a 200-seat indoor professional theater in downtown Pikeville.

The Hatfield and McCoy River Trails, located on the Levisa Fork River, opened on April 26, 2014. Construction of a new zipline complex began in September 2014 in Bob Amos Park. The project cost $500,000 and opened in April 2015. Alltech of Lexington has also announced the construction of a distillery, brewery and visitors center in downtown.