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History · Pathfork

Pathfork’s post office opened in 1916

Most of Pathfork was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972.

1916first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Photo: User:Nitefirre · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Pathfork began

When was Pathfork founded?

1916

The Pathfork post office opened in 1916, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 326110 years
Founding year: the first Pathfork post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Pathfork’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 Pathfork are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pathfork’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

Pathfork, in brief

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

Pathfork is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Harlan County, Kentucky, United States, located to the south bank of Wallins Creek. As of the 2020 census, Pathfork had a population of 326. The community's main roads are East Hwy 72, which connects from US 119, and travels to an end at Old RB Mines, however, 72 runs to Harlan via gravel road, and Ky 2005 an old gravel road that leads to Smith/Brownies Creek, south of Harlan, Kentucky.

Its first post office opened in 1916. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 379 to 326 (-14%).

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.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Pathfork

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

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Nick LacheyAmerican singer, actor, producer and television… · b. 1973
Morgan WallenAmerican country singer · b. 1993
John HensleyAmerican actor · b. 1977
W
Wallace JonesAmerican basketball player · b. 1926
William A. StanfillAmerican politician · b. 1892
George Madison AdamsAmerican politician · b. 1837

Questions about Pathfork’s history

What year was Pathfork founded?

The Pathfork post office opened in 1916, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

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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 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.