Hyden, Kentucky
| Hyden, Kentucky | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Main Street
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| Nickname(s): Redbud Capital of the World | |
 Location of Hyden, Kentucky |
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| Coordinates: 37°9′48″N 83°22′30″W / 37.16333°N 83.37500°WCoordinates: 37°9′48″N 83°22′30″W / 37.16333°N 83.37500°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kentucky |
| County | Leslie |
| Incorporated | March 18, 1882 |
| Government | |
| • Type | City Commission |
| • Mayor | Carol Lewis |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.8 sq mi (2.1 km2) |
| • Land | 0.8 sq mi (2.1 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 922 ft (281 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 365 |
| • Density | 256.0/sq mi (98.8/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP codes | 41749, 41762 |
| Area code(s) | 606 |
| FIPS code | 21-38908 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0512880 |
| Website | cityofhydenky.net |
Hyden is a city in and the county seat of Leslie County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 365 at the 2010 census. It is located at the junction of U.S. Route 421 and Kentucky Route 80, along the Middle Fork of the Kentucky River.
The area was first settled around 1800 by the Sizemore family, a Native American family migrating from North Carolina, with a brief stay in Hawkins, Tennessee, before making it to Kentucky. John "Rock House" Sizemore and wife, Nancy (Bowling) Sizemore (descendant of John Rolfe and Pocahontas) lived in a rock house about a hundred yards up from the mouth of the creek which would later bear his name (RockHouse Creek). John Rock House later sold the land to a Lewis man who then donated the land to the government, which became the town of Hyden. The town was established in 1878 and incorporated in 1882, and was named after John Hyden, a state senator of the time who helped form Leslie County. The mountainous terrain made the region difficult to access except by river, which was no longer the dominant form of transportation by the late 19th century, hindering growth.
Frontier Nursing University opened in Hyden in 1939.
Hyden briefly came to national attention when the Hurricane Creek mine disaster occurred in late 1970, five miles away.
In July 1978, Richard Nixon came to Hyden to make his first public speech since resigning from the presidency during the Watergate crisis. Hyden was picked because U.S. Rep. Tim Lee Carter invited him to attend the dedication of a recreation facility and Nixon wanted a town that had heavily supported his presidential runs. Leslie County Judge-Executive C. Allen Muncy claimed the Nixon invitation prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to obtain indictments of him and his associates on vote-fraud charges; while on appeal for his conviction, he won renomination in the Republican primary but lost the 1981 general election to independent Kermit Keen.
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