Whitesburg

History

Whitesburg was founded in 1842 on land offered by Stephen Hiram Hogg to build the county seat. Previously called Summit city, it was renamed for John D. White who had introduced Letcher county's enactment bill in the State legislature.

Geography

Whitesburg is located in central Letcher County at (37.117867, -82.821068) in the valley of the North Fork of the Kentucky River, west of the border of Kentucky and Virginia. Kentucky Route 15 passes through the city, leading northwest to Hazard. It has its eastern terminus in the east part of Whitesburg at U.S. Route 119. US 119 leads northeast to U.S. Route 23 at Jenkins and southwest over Pine Mountain to Cumberland. According to the United States Census Bureau, Whitesburg has a total area of , of which are land and , or 2.23%, are water. Whitesburg is located within a climatic transition zone between the humid subtropical climate and the humid continental climate zones. Summers are hot, humid and wet. July is the warmest month, with an average high of and an average low of . Winters are generally cool to cold, with occasional snowfall. January is the coldest month, with an average high of and an average low of . May receives the most precipitation with an average of . The highest recorded temperature was in 1998, and the lowest recorded temperature was in 1996. |date=August 2010 }}

Race & ethnicity