15 Forgotten Kentucky Railroad Town Hidden In The Mountains

In 1917, U.S. Steel built a Kentucky town at the end of a railroad. It grew to nearly 10,000 people. Today, 658 live there. Deep in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, coal companies and railroads built entire towns almost overnight. They built the houses, the stores, the schools, and even the money. Then the jobs disappeared, the trains stopped coming, and the towns were left behind. In this video, we count down 15 forgotten railroad and coal towns, from Hellier and Harveyton to Van Lear (home of Loretta Lynn, the coal miner’s daughter), Stearns, Benham’s “Petticoat Mafia,” and Lynch, once the largest coal camp on Earth. We’ll follow the Hillbilly Highway north, look at company scrip and company houses, and see how a few simple business decisions emptied whole hollows. For most of these towns, the coal never ran out. The jobs did, and the trains followed the jobs out. 🚂 CHAPTERS 0:00 – The town at the end of the railroad 0:00 – #15 Hellier, Pike County 0:00 – #14 Harveyton, Perry County 0:00 – #13 Livingston, Rockcastle County 0:00 – #12 Kenvir, Harlan County 0:00 – A town built in a year 0:00 – #11 Blue Diamond, Perry County 0:00 – #10 Hardburly, Perry County 0:00 – #9 Van Lear, Johnson County 0:00 – #8 Seco, Letcher County 0:00 – The Hillbilly Highway 0:00 – #7 Fleming-Neon, Letcher County 0:00 – #6 McRoberts, Letcher County 0:00 – #5 Wheelwright, Floyd County 0:00 – #4 Jenkins, Letcher County 0:00 – It was arithmetic 0:00 – #3 Stearns, McCreary County 0:00 – #2 Benham, Harlan County 0:00 – #1 Lynch, Harlan County 0:00 – Your challenge 💬 Did your family come out of a Kentucky coal camp? Tell me its name in the comments, and which railroad ran up the hollow. Someone watching might be from there too. 🔔 Subscribe to Sealed Places for more forgotten towns, abandoned rail lines, and hidden history from the Appalachian mountains. 📍 Planning a visit? Many of these sites are on private land or near active rail lines. Stay off the tracks, respect “No Trespassing” signs, and support the local museums that keep these stories alive. #Kentucky #Appalachia #GhostTowns #CoalCamp #RailroadHistory #AbandonedPlaces #LorettaLynn #HiddenHistory