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History · Whitley City

28% of Whitley City’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1952 on and the census since 1960.

0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0

What stands out about Whitley City’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 Whitley City are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,683 in 1980; 968 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Whitley City’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Whitley City’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Whitley City, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,8001960198020002020Peak: 1,683

Peaked at 1,683 in 1980; 968 people lived here in 2020.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Whitley City’s Wikipedia page.

The story so far

Whitley City, in brief

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

Whitley City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in McCreary County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 968 at the 2020 census, down from 1,170 in 2010. It is the county seat of McCreary County. Whitley City is one of two unincorporated county seats in Kentucky (the other being Burlington in Boone County).

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,170 to 968 (-17%).

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

Timeline

Whitley City, 1880 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Coolidge post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1912Post officeThe Coolidge post office closes
  5. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 1,683
By decade

Whitley City, decade by decade

Today2 recent
McCreary County Kentucky courthouse2007McCreary County Kentucky courthouseKYMap-doton-WhitleyCity2004KYMap-doton-WhitleyCity
On the map

Whitley City on the map, 1952 to 1982

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

Whitley City on the 1952 USGS mapWhitley City on the 1963 USGS mapWhitley City on the 1979 USGS mapWhitley City on the 1982 USGS map1952Whitley City 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 Whitley City.

Famous people

Famous people close to Whitley City

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

See all →
Howard BakerAmerican politician and diplomat · b. 1925
Bruce Fairchild BartonAmerican author, politician and advertising exe… · b. 1886
T
Tommy Lee WallaceAmerican film director · b. 1949
John Sherman CooperAmerican politician, jurist, and diplomat · b. 1901
Arthur LakeActor · b. 1905
Frank SelvyAmerican basketball player-coach · b. 1932
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Another post office, Coolidge, opened and closed inside today’s town.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Stearns2 historic placesB−

Questions about Whitley City’s history

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 Wikimedia Commons (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.