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History · Flat Lick

Flat Lick’s post office opened in 1848

Most of Flat Lick was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: maps from 1952 on.

1848first post office
0on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Flat Lick began

When was Flat Lick founded?

1848

The Flat Lick post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 850178 years
Founding year: the first Flat Lick post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Flat Lick’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Flat Lick are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1848: 178 years of Flat Lick.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Flat Lick’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Flat Lick’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Flat Lick, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Flat Lick yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Flat Lick is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Knox County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 census, Flat Lick had a population of 850. The oldest community in the county, Flat Lick was settled by Europeans before 1784 and named for a salty rock which attracted wild animals.

Its first post office opened in 1848. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 960 to 850 (-11%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Flat Lick on the map, 1952 to 1974

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Flat Lick. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Flat Lick on the 1952 USGS mapFlat Lick on the 1974 USGS map1952Artemus 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 Flat Lick.

Famous people

Famous people close to Flat Lick

Nobody well known was born in Flat Lick itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Nick LacheyAmerican singer, actor, producer and television… · b. 1973
John HensleyAmerican actor · b. 1977
Arthur LakeActor · b. 1905
Frank SelvyAmerican basketball player-coach · b. 1932
W
Wallace JonesAmerican basketball player · b. 1926
Bert T. CombsAmerican federal judge; governor of Kentucky · b. 1911
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Flat Lick’s post office has been open since 1848.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Old Flat Lick
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Flat Lick
EvergreenGrayHammondSmith

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Flat Lick’s history

What year was Flat Lick founded?

The Flat Lick post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.