Most of Beattyville was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 37 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1858. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
History grade
What drives Beattyville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Beattyville is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Beattyville’s overall grade.
Kentucky towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kentucky town has 29.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Beattyville’s 186 sits above most of its state (80% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 39 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.3 points). Two sources give 1851.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Beattyville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The story so far
Beattyville, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Beattyville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Beattyville is a home rule class city in, and the county seat of, Lee County, Kentucky, United States. The city was formally established by the state assembly as "Beatty" in 1851 and incorporated in 1872. It was named for Samuel Beatty, a pioneer settler. As of the 2020 census, Beattyville had a population of 2,176.
Beattyville was established in 1851. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,307 to 2,176 (+66%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Beattyville, 1851 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Beattyville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1952Beattyville sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Beattyville.
Every building
Beattyville, building by building, 1893–1921
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1851, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Beattyville’s post office opened in 1858, and the census of 1870 counted 123 people here.
How does Beattyville rank for history?
Beattyville is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Beattyville?
Three places: the St. Thomas Episcopal Church (listed 1976), the Beattyville Grade School (2008) and the Beattyville Historic District (2024).
How old are the homes in Beattyville?
7% of Beattyville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1988.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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