Bell County, KY
| Bell County, Kentucky | |
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Bell County Courthouse in Pineville
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 Location in the U.S. state of Kentucky |
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 Kentucky's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1867 |
| Named for | Joshua Fry Bell |
| Seat | Pineville |
| Largest city | Middlesboro |
| Area | |
| • Total | 361 sq mi (935 km2) |
| • Land | 359 sq mi (930 km2) |
| • Water | 2.1 sq mi (5 km2), 0.6% |
| Population | |
| • (2010) | 28,691 |
| • Density | 80/sq mi (31/km²) |
| Congressional district | 5th |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 |
| Website | bellcounty |
Bell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 28,691. Its county seat is Pineville. The county was formed August 1, 1867, from parts of Knox and Harlan Counties and augmented from Knox County in 1872. The county is named for Joshua Fry Bell, and was originally called "Josh Bell" but shortened to "Bell" by 1880.
Bell County is considered a "Moist" county, a special type of county between dry and wet. The County recently changed to moist by a vote in September, 2015 allowing alcohol-by-the-drink sales in Middlesboro, Kentucky. In a standard dry county, all sales of alcoholic beverages are prohibited. Under ABC terminology, a limited county is an otherwise dry county in which at least one city has approved the sale of alcohol by the drink at restaurants that both seat a state-mandated number of diners and derive no more than 30% of their revenue from alcoholic beverages. In the case of Bell County, Pineville had voted to allow alcohol by the drink in restaurants that seat at least 100 diners. This was the terminology to describe the area until the Middlesboro Vote allowing the retail of alcohol.
The Middlesborough, KY Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Bell County.
The Wilderness Road was constructed in the 1790s through what is now Bell County.
Bell County was formed on February 28, 1867, from portions of Harlan and Knox counties. It was named for Joshua Fry Bell, an attorney and member of Congress. The courthouse has been thrice destroyed. In 1914 and 1918 it was destroyed by fire and in 1976 through flood. The documents stored there were destroyed as well.
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