Peach Orchard Bottom: Pikeville, Kentucky Through 1865

Pike County Historical Society is pleased to announce its release of
Peach Orchard Bottom: Pikeville, Kentucky Through 1865.
Hard cover, illustrated.
$39.95 plus tax and necessary postage

Purchase Book

Peach Orchard Bottom, located along what was originally called Louisa Fork of Big Sandy River in the center of the southern Appalachians, was the name of the area upon which Pikeville, Kentucky, was founded. The book highlights Pikeville’s growth from a small settlement to a town poised to reap the benefits of timber, coal, and railroads after the Civil War. It covers the geography, politics, and human efforts that influenced the area’s development, showcasing its settlers’ resilience, enterprise, and community spirit.

Anniversaries are wonderful reasons for recalling, memorializing, and celebrating special occasions. The Pike County Historical Society has been diligently involved in celebrating an event that is not only serious to us as citizens of our county, but of deep historical interest. Pikeville, our county seat, was legislatively formed in the waning days of 1824, but the actual physical layout and governmental organization did not come about until 1825. The book explores the foundational aspects of the town, such as the original surveys and plats, the claiming of its property by grant, and the lives of its first families. It delves into the pre-Civil War era, identifying the characters and events that set the stage for postwar development.

The Pike County Historical Society has compiled the details of Pikeville’s beginning with day one, combined witheight years of historical research and digital preservation conducted by its managing member team.

Peach Orchard Bottom covers through early 1865. It has 350 pages covering 21 chapters. Topics of interest include a hand-tinted plat taken from the town’s first survey, backgrounds of its first families, and the economic and political forces necessary for understanding the its historical course. For example, an item of interest is the coverage of Pikeville’s second courthouse which replaced the original and existed from the mid-1830s through the building of the one on Main Street today.

This work began as a proposed historical sketch of the city, but, as with so many infant projects, it grew and figuratively took on a life of its own as we identified interrelated subjects, among which were: claiming by grant of the future town property; the story of the preceding county seat and reasons for its abandonment; the first town survey and plat; internal and area business development; outside forces leading to further growth; pre-Civil War social institutions; antebellum political forces which guided Pikeville hand-in-hand with America; the characters and movements which impacted Pikeville during the Civil War; and postwar visions for the future burdened by wartime animosities, one of which inched its way through the court system for over fifteen years.