Harlan County is located in southeastern Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,831. The county seat is Harlan. Kentucky's highest natural point, Black Mountain (), is in Harlan County.
During the Great Depression it was a center of labor strife between coal mine owners and unionized workers, notably in the Harlan County War of the 1930s. After the respite provided by WWII's need for coal to drive war production, the industry declined in the 1950s. The loss of jobs resulted in a steadily declining population and depressed economy. Harlan County has a high prevalence of poverty, lower longevity, and low family income.
Harlan is generally a dry county but because Cumberland is "wet" (package alcohol sales are allowed) and Harlan city permits restaurants seating 100+ to serve alcohol it is considered a moist county.
History
thumb|left|Harlan County Courthouse
Eastern Kentucky is believed to have supported a large Archaic Native American population in prehistoric time. Cliff dwellings were used by successive cultures as residences and at times for burials. In 1923, an Indian Cliff Dwelling was discovered near Bledsoe, Kentucky Historical tribes in this area included the Cherokee and Shawnee.
Before the American Revolutionary War, the area presently bounded by state lines was considered to be part of the Virginia colony. In 1780, the Virginia state legislature divided Kentucky County into three counties: Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln. In 1791 - as part of the state of Kentucky - these were incorporated into the new nation. In 1799, part of Lincoln County was divided to create Knox County. Harlan County was formed in 1819 from a part of Knox County and named after Silas Harlan who built a log stockade near Danville, which was known as "Harlan's Station". His grand-nephew was U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan .
Due to increasing population, in 1842 part of the county split off to become Letcher County in 1842; Bell County was likewise established in 1867. In 1878, the northwestern area was partitioned to form part of Leslie County.
In 1924, Conda Uless (Ulysses) "Condy" Dabney was convicted in the county of murdering a person who was later found alive.
Coal mining was the only major resource in the county and was exploited to fuel the growth of early 20th century industry. When the Great Depression struck in 1930 and demand for coal reduced, often-violent confrontations between strikers, strikebreakers, mine company security forces, and law enforcement were termed the Harlan County Wars. After the Battle of Evarts, May 5, 1931, Kentucky governor Flem D. Sampson called in the National Guard to restore order.
Ballads sung on the picket line at the Brookside mine in Harlan County were captured on film by documentarian John Gaventa. The county was the subject of the documentary film Harlan County, USA (1976), directed by Barbara Kopple. It documented organizing during a second major period of labor unrest in the 1970s, particularly around the Brookside Strike.
In 2019, the county was the site of the 2019 Harlan County coal miners protest, one in a long history of coal mining. Coal miners demanded back payment from a coal company that fired them shortly after declaring bankruptcy. They occupied a railroad track and prevented a coal train from leaving the county for almost two months.
Geography
thumb|right|[[Franklin D. Roosevelt in Harlan County, 1908]]
thumb|[[Black Mountain (Kentucky)|Black Mountain]]
thumb|Main Street in Harlan
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water.
Features
The headwaters of the Cumberland River are located in Harlan County: Poor Fork (extending from the city of Harlan east past the city of Cumberland and into Letcher County), Clover Fork extending East from above Evarts, and Martins Fork (extending through the city of Harlan west). The confluence is located in Baxter.
Black Mountain, located east of Lynch, is Kentucky's highest point, with an elevation of above sea level.
Major highways
- 20px U.S. Highway 421
- 20px U.S. Highway 119
- 20px Kentucky Route 38
- 20px Kentucky Route 160
Adjacent counties
- Perry County (north)
- Letcher County (northeast)
- Wise County, Virginia (east)
- Lee County, Virginia (southeast)
- Bell County (southwest)
- Leslie County (northwest)
National protected areas
- Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (part)
- Blanton Forest