Paintsville () is a home rule-class city along Paint Creek in Johnson County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair ...

of its county. The population was 3,459 during the 2010 U.S. Census.

History

A Paint Lick Station was referred to in

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

dispatches as early as 1780. The site was named for

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

art painted on the debarked trees near a local

salt lick A mineral lick (also known as a salt lick) is a place where animals can go to lick essential mineral nutrients from a deposit of salts and other minerals. Mineral licks can be naturally occurring or artificial (such as blocks of salt that fa ...

when the first

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

settlers arrived and was originally part of a tract belonging to George Lewis. The trading post was purchased by the Carolinian Rev.Henery Dixon in 1812 and laid out as the town of Paint Lick Station in 1826.Rennick, Robert. ''Kentucky Place Names''
p. 225
University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Retrieved September 25, 2013. The town was formally established under that name in 1834, although the post office was probably named Paint Creek. It was incorporated as a city under its present name of Paintsville in 1843, the same year it became the

of Johnson County. The

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

found Johnson County Fiscal Court passing an ordinance barring ''both'' Union and Confederate flags from being flown in its jurisdiction. This was quickly repealed when then-

Col In geomorphology, a col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 103. . It may also be called a gap. Particularly rugged and forbidding co ...

. James A. Garfield marched his brigade into the city. During the early twentieth century, Paintsville began to transform into a modern American city. In 1902, the city's first bank First National opened for business. In 1906, the city received telephone service and, two years later, all of its streets were paved. In 1912, Paintsville received electricity and natural gas services. In 1926, Paintsville residents received public water and the city's fire department was established. Library services were originally provided through the

Pack Horse Library Project The Pack Horse Library Project was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program that delivered books to remote regions in the Appalachian Mountains between 1935 and 1943. Women were very involved in the project which eventually had 30 different ...

. Since the 1990s, Paintsville has seen a steady loss of population (4,345 in 1990 to 3,459 in 2010), in part due to a downturn in the economy, and the loss of coal jobs. Despite this, there have been some business developments in the past few years, as well as growing tourist interest. Paintsville has been in the process of revitalizing the downtown area to rejuvenate its original business district. On June 9, 2009, Paintsville became a "wet" city for the first time since March 14, 1945, permitting stores located within the

city limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate li ...

to sell alcoholic beverages.

Geography

Paintsville is located at (37.811324, −82.806780) in the bottomland at the confluence of Paint Creek and the

Levisa Fork The Levisa Fork (also known as the Levisa Fork River or the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River) is a tributary of the Big Sandy River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Nati ...

of the Big Sandy River amid the foothills of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The ...

in the

Cumberland Plateau The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, and portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia. The terms " Al ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the city has a total area of , all of it land.

Cityscape

Beginning in 1976, Paintsville's main shopping district has gradually moved from Main Street to Mayo Plaza, which is northwest of downtown. Stores such as

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

and

Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. (), often shortened to Lowe's, is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States and Canada. A ...

opened in the plaza during the early 1990s. This proved to be too much competition for the small family-owned businesses in downtown causing them to close. Today, downtown mostly serves as Paintsville's financial district. In May 2009 Paintsville received a grant to redevelop Main Street in hopes of making it one of the city's popular shopping districts again. In recent years, Mayo Plaza has rapidly expanded. In the early 2000s, a new

Wal-Mart Supercenter Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, a new Lowe's, and multiple restaurants opened.

Climate

Paintsville has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

( Köppen ''Cfa''). Summers are hot and humid with frequent severe storms. July is the warmest month, with an average high 86 °F (30 °C) and an average low of 66 °F (19 °C). Winters are cold with occasional mild periods. January is the coldest month with an average high of 44 °F (7 °C) and an average low of 24 °F (−4 °C). The highest recorded temperature was 105 °F (41 °C) in 1988 and the lowest recorded temperature was −26 °F (−32 °C) in 1994. May has the highest average rainfall (4.54 inches) and October has the lowest average rainfall (2.97 inches).

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,459 people, 1,604 households, and 856 families residing in the city. The population density was 1300.1 people per square mile. There were 1,844 housing units at an average density of 693.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 99.3%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 0.3%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.8% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, and 0.2% from other races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino people of any race were 0.4% of the population. In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.5% under 19, 6.1% from 20 to 24, 11.0% from 25 to 34, 11.9% from 35 to 44, 15.1% from 45 to 54, 14.4% from 55 to 64, and 21.1% who were 65 or older. The median age is 41.9 years. There were 1,574 males and 1,885 females. The median income for a household in the city was $25,259, and the median income for a family was $30,575. Males had a median income of $30,478 versus $25,640 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,876. About 21.0% of families and 29.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 39.9% of those under age 18 and 22.0% of those age 65 or over.

Crime

In 2009, the following crime rate (per 100,000 population) was reported to the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice ...

by the city police department: Johnson County Judicial Center (Kentucky)

Five people died in a 2018

shooting spree A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders or homicides in a short time, in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations wi ...

Government

Paintsville has a mayor–council form of government. Paintsville's current mayor/city executive is Bill Mike Runyon, who was appointed in 2016. Former mayors: * Richard C. Thomas (1920–1922) * Dr. J.C. Sparks (1924) * James N. Meek (1924–1925) * Dr. E.E. Archer (1926–1933) * F.S. Vanhoose (1934–1939) * J.B. Wells Jr. (1940–1945) * Escom Chandler (1946–1949) * J.B. Wells, Jr. (1949–1955) * Ralph B. "Tiny" Preston (1955–1965) * J.B. Wells, Jr. (1966–1969) * John E. Chandler (1969–1975) * Jim T. Newman (1975) * Allen S. Perry (1975) * James S. Trimble (1975–1985) * Robert Wiley (1986–1988) * John David Preston (1988–1993) * Robin T. Cooper (1994–2002) * Douglas W. Pugh (2003–2006) * Bob Porter (2007–2016) * Bill Mike Runyon (2016–present) The representative body of the city of Paintsville is the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

. The council members include Sara Blair, Tim Hall, Tommy Trimble, Jim Meek, David Trimble, and Shawn Thompson.Kentucky Secretary of State-Land Office
Apps.sos.ky.gov, Retrieved on November 21, 2009

Departments

The city mayor oversees the following departments: *Community Planning and Zoning Services *Finance *Human Resources *Police *Public Works *Parks and Recreation *Tourism *Fire/EMS

Education

The Paintsville independent school District includes Paintsville High School (7th–12th grades) and Paintsville Elementary School. Paintsville Independent has consistently had college attendance rates between 95% to 100% since 2008. In 2012, the district had a composite ACT score of 22.7.Average ACT Scores by School District
Kentucky Department of Education. Retrieved August 1, 2013 It was the 4th highest composite ACT score out of the 169 school districts in the state of Kentucky. Johnson County Schools also operates three schools within the city of Paintsville: Johnson Central High School, Johnson County Middle School (Kentucky), and Central Elementary School. Johnson County is also well known for its academics. Johnson Central High School has won five international Future Problem Solving titles while the middle school has won 10 Governor's Cup state titles along with three international FPS titles. Our Lady of the Mountains School is a private institution operated by the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of

Lexington Lexington may refer to: Places England * Laxton, Nottinghamshire, formerly Lexington Canada * Lexington, a district in Waterloo, Ontario United States * Lexington, Kentucky, the largest city with this name * Lexington, Massachusetts, the oldes ...

Big Sandy Community and Technical College Big Sandy Community and Technical College (BSCTC) is a public community college with its headquarters in Prestonsburg, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. It was created in 2003 from the consolidation of ...

operates a campus in Paintsville that offers two-year degrees in various fields of study. Paintsville has a

lending library A lending library is a library from which books and other media are lent out. The major classifications are endowed libraries, institutional libraries (the most diverse), public libraries, and subscription libraries. It may also refer to a library ...

, the Johnson County Public Library.

Culture

First United Methodist Church (Paintsville)

Festivals

The Kentucky Apple Festival has been held in Paintsville annually since 1962. Events include live music, carnival rides, a pageant, various competitions, a parade, and a car show. The festival occurs annually on the first full weekend in October. The Awaken Conference, an annual Christian concert event attracting thousands of people to the area, is held each July in the city. Paintsville also holds a Spring Fling on Main Street in May.

Museums and historical sites

The U.S. 23 County Music Highway Museum gives information on the country music entertainers who grew up near U.S. 23 in Eastern Kentucky. Country music entertainers profiled in the museum include

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Ma ...

Crystal Gayle Crystal Gayle (born Brenda Gail Webb; January 9, 1951) is an American country music singer widely known for her 1977 hit "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". Initially, Gayle's management and record label were the same as that of her oldest sist ...

, and Hylo Brown. The historic Mayo Mansion was built for John C. C. Mayo between 1905 and 1912. It now serves as Our Lady of the Mountains School. The Mayo Memorial United Methodist Church was designed by one hundred Italian masons hired by John C. C. Mayo. It has several stained glass windows and has a pipe organ donated by

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...

. The first church service was in the fall of 1909.

Recreation

The Paintsville Country Club includes an 18-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

established on September 27, 1929, making it one of the oldest golf courses in Eastern Kentucky. The

country club A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offe ...

was built in 1930 by the WPA and is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

.Powell, Helen January 26, 1989. Retrieved February 26, 2010 The Paintsville Recreation Center contains a volleyball court, a basketball court, a walking track, and a playground. There is also a small community garden on site.

Media

The '' Paintsville Herald'' is a semi-weekly newspaper printed on Wednesday and Friday with a circulation of about 5,200 copies. The newspaper serves Paintsville and the surrounding area.

Healthcare

Paintsville ARH Hospital- Formally known as Paul B. hall Regional Medical Center is a full-service hospital providing healthcare to the region. It has a full-service emergency room with a pediatric trauma room, a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, a special birthing room, and full service surgical services, including a daVinci Si robotic system providing state-of-the-art laparoscopic surgery for the greater Paintsville region.

Transportation

Roads

U.S. Route 23 serves as the bypass for Paintsville. The four-lane

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

links Paintsville to

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchang ...

to the north and U.S. Route 119 and Kentucky Route 80 to the south. U.S. Route 460 links Paintsville to the

Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway The Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway, commonly known as the Mountain Parkway, is a freeway in eastern Kentucky. The route runs from Interstate 64 just east of Winchester southeast for 75.627 miles (121.710 km) to a junction with U.S. Ro ...

in Salyersville. Kentucky Route 40 forms both Euclid Avenue and Third Street in Paintsville. It links the city to Inez and also serves as an alternative route to Salyersville. Kentucky Route 321, locally known as South Mayo Trail, serves as the city's main business route and passes through Mayo Plaza.

Air

Located southeast of Paintsville in neighboring Martin County is

Big Sandy Regional Airport Big Sandy Regional Airport (, former FAA LID: K22) is a public use airport in southwest Martin County, Kentucky. The airport is ten miles (17 km) northeast of Prestonsburg, a city in Floyd County. Facilities The airport covers at an elev ...

. The publicly owned, private-use airport is used for general aviation. Its main runway is 5,000 ft (1,524 m) long. Retrieved January 6, 2013 The nearest airport that provides commercial aviation services is Tri-State Airport, northeast in Ceredo, West Virginia.

Popular culture

* The majority of the 1983 film '' Kentucky Woman'' was filmed in Paintsville. * Paintsville was one of the three filming locations for the 2010 drama film, '' Passenger Pigeons''.

Notable people

* Willie Blair,

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

1990–2001 * Tyler Childers,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

, bluegrass, and rock musician * Jim Ford, singer-songwriter; born in Paintsville * Jim Fyffe, sportscaster and radio talk-show host *

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer and recording artist; born in Paintsville in 1951 (Older sister Loretta Lynn was born in nearby Butcher Hollow/Van Lear in 1932) * Andrew Jackson Kirk, U.S. Representative from

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

* Johnnie LeMaster, Major League Baseball player (

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

); resides in Paintsville * John C. C. Mayo, entrepreneur * Wendell H. Meade, Republican member of U.S. House of Representatives 1947–49; born in Paintsville * John Pelphrey, Kentucky "Mr. Basketball" of 1987, one of four

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

players dubbed "The Unforgettables"; former

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

head coach *

Venus Ramey Venus Ramey Murphy (September 26, 1924 – June 17, 2017) was an American beauty pageant contestant, and later an activist. She won the Miss America competition in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on September 9, 1944. Early life Ramey was born in Som ...

, Miss America 1944; grew up in Paintsville * Ovie Scurlock, born in Paintsville on November 11, 1918, former jockey in horse racing *

Benjamin F. Stapleton Benjamin Franklin Stapleton (November 12, 1869 – May 23, 1950) was the mayor of Denver, Colorado, for two periods (comprising five terms), the first from 1923 to 1931 and the second from 1935 to 1947. He also served as a member of the Ku Klux ...

, Mayor of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Colorado 1923–1931 and 1935–1947, born in Paintsville *

Chris Stapleton Christopher Alvin Stapleton (born April 15, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and grew up in Staffordsville, Kentucky. In 2001, Stapleton moved to Nashville, Tennessee, t ...

, bluegrass, rock musician signed to

Universal Music Group Nashville Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records ...

; attended Johnson Central High School in Paintsville * Richard Scott Thomas, born in Paintsville on December 3, 1925, dancer, educator, co-founder of New York School of Ballet; father of Richard Earl Thomas, actor best known for role as John-Boy Walton in CBS drama ''

The Waltons ''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II. It was created by Earl Hamner Jr., based on his 1961 book '' Spencer's Mountain'' and the 1963 fil ...

''Dunning, Jennifer
"Richard S. Thomas, City Ballet Soloist, and Teacher, Dies at 87,"
''The New York Times''. August 4, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2014.