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History · Payne Gap

Payne Gap’s post office opened in 1935, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1912 on.

1935first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
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Photo: FatCat96 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Payne Gap began

When was Payne Gap founded?

1935

The Payne Gap post office opened in 1935, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Bentley (1900) and Fishpond (1924), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 34791 years
Founding year: the first Payne Gap post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Payne Gap’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 Payne Gap are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Payne Gap.On the map since 19124 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1992. Watch Payne Gap change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Payne Gap’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Payne Gap’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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Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Payne Gap’s post office has been open since 1935. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bentley
1900–1912
Fishpond
1924–1931
Payne Gap
1935–today
19001960today
Gone or out of use
Bentley Post Officepost officeFishpond Post Officepost officePayne Gap Post Officepost officePayne Gap Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Payne Gap
Sam Bentley

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

On the map

Payne Gap on the map, 1912 to 1992

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

Payne Gap on the 1912 USGS mapPayne Gap on the 1954 USGS mapPayne Gap on the 1979 USGS mapPayne Gap on the 1992 USGS map1912Pound sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Payne Gap.

The story so far

Payne Gap, in brief

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

Payne Gap is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Letcher County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 census, Payne Gap had a population of 347. U.S. Route 119 passes through the community.

Its first post office opened in 1935. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 329 to 347 (+5%).

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

Timeline

Payne Gap, 1900 to 1935

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Bentley post office opens
  3. 1912Post officeThe Bentley post office closes
  4. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1924Post officeThe Fishpond post office opens
  6. 1931Post officeThe Fishpond post office closes
  7. 1935Post officeThe Payne Gap post office opens
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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Famous people

Famous people close to Payne Gap

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

See all →
George C. ScottAmerican actor, film director and producer · b. 1927
Peggie CastleAmerican actress who specialized in playing the… · b. 1927
Juanita M. KrepsUnited States Secretary of Commerce · b. 1921
Louise SlaughterAmerican politician · b. 1929
Bernie BickerstaffAmerican basketball coach and executive · b. 1944
G
Gary StewartAmerican singer · b. 1944
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Jenkins2 historic placesB−

Questions about Payne Gap’s history

What year was Payne Gap founded?

The Payne Gap post office opened in 1935, 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 →
Start a conversation
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.