Wheelwright, Kentucky

File:Changing shifts at the mine portal in the afternoon. Inland Steel Company, Wheelwright ^1 & 2 Mines, Wheelwright... - NARA - 541450.jpg]] Before the arrival of coal mining jobs, many locals lived by farming or logging. The land which would later become Wheelwright was owned by the Hall family. In 1916, the Halls sold their land to the Elk Horn Coal Company. That same year a post office was established with the name Wheelwright, named for the company's president at that time, Jere H. Wheelwright.{{cite book |author=Rennick, Robert M. |title=Kentucky Place Names |year=1988 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, Kentucky |isbn=0-8131-0179-4 |chapter=Place Names }} The city was officially incorporated in 1917. Elk Horn leased its mines from the Consolidation Coal. In 1930, Consolidation sold the Wheelwright coal camp to Inland Steel. In 1966, Inland Steel sold the camp to Island Creek Coal. The mine closed in the 1970s.[http://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w6w130t4 Inland Steel Company] After the mine was abandoned, the Kentucky Housing Corporation purchased the town, rehabilitated the homes, and sold the homes to residents.Kentucky Housing Corporation, [http://www.kyhousing.org/Pages/Our-History.aspx History], accessed September 29, 2016

File:Harry Fain, coal loader. Inland Steel Company, Wheelwright ^1 & 2 Mines, Wheelwright, Floyd County, Kentucky. - NARA - 541452 - cropped and restored.jpg

Wheelwright is a coal town. When the city was founded, the coal company built housing, stores, churches, schools, and medical facilities to provide for the miners' families. Miners employed the coal company would have used these services to provide food and other necessities to their families. At one time, the coal company had at least 2,300 miners on its payroll.{{Cite journal |last=Rennick |first=Robert M. |title=Floyd County - Place Names |url=https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/rennick_ms_collection/63/ |website=Morehead State University |date=November 17, 2016 |archive-date=February 16, 2024 |access-date=February 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216144320/https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/rennick_ms_collection/63/ |url-status=live }}

Wheelwright was home to one of the pack horse libraries in the 1930s and early 1940s.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13537878/ |title=Packhorse Librarian to Broaden Service |date=12 March 1939 |work=The Courier-Journal |access-date=3 September 2017 |via=Newspapers.com }}

File:Big Creek Missions (Wheelwright Campus).webp

In 2018, Big Creek Missions purchased a building that was a former church, and repurposed it to act as a Christian Mission Retreat Center. Since 2018, Big Creek has helped the population of Floyd County with architecture, landscaping, and food banks.

Wheelwright is located at the southern end of Floyd County in the valley of the Right Fork Otter Creek. There is just one way in and out of the city, via the Junction Bridge, located in Bypro, also referred to as "Wheelwright Junction", on state route 122. The original metal structure was replaced by concrete in 1959. This bridge is now known as the Timothy Hall Memorial Bridge,{{cite web |last=Turner |first=J. |title=SJR 25 (BR 1024) |url=http://www.lrc.ky.gov/RECORD/10RS/SJ25.htm |access-date=17 March 2013 |archive-date=June 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606075951/http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/10rs/SJ25.htm |url-status=live }} in honor of City Commissioner Timothy Hall, who died in a car crash.{{cite web |last=Lawson |first=Jennifer |title=Commissioner killed in wreck |date=January 12, 2009 |url=http://www.floydcountytimes.com/view/full_story/1430711/article-Commissioner-killed-in-wreck |access-date=17 March 2013 |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808130750/http://www.floydcountytimes.com/view/full_story/1430711/article-Commissioner-killed-in-wreck |url-status=live }}

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of {{convert|4.6|km2|order=flip}}, all land.

{{US Census population

|1920= 506

|1930= 1822

|1940= 2027

|1950= 2037

|1960= 1518

|1970= 793

|1980= 865

|1990= 721

|2000= 1042

|2010= 780

|2020= 509

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |title=Census of Population and Housing |publisher=Census.gov |access-date=June 4, 2015 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717060613/https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |url-status=live }}

}}

As of the census{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/ |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=2008-01-31 |title=U.S. Census website |archive-date=December 27, 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961227012639/https://www.census.gov/ |url-status=live }} of 2000, there were 1,042 people, 203 households, and 146 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|598.0|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 236 housing units at an average density of {{convert|135.4|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 63.15% White, 34.74% African American, 0.10% Asian, 1.25% from other races, and 0.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.73% of the population.

There were 203 households, out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.7% were married couples living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.6% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 13.7% under the age of 18, 22.7% from 18 to 24, 43.4% from 25 to 44, 13.6% from 45 to 64, and 6.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females, there were 290.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 330.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $14,808, and the median income for a family was $20,625. Males had a median income of $30,625 versus $16,563 for females. The per capita income for the city was $5,367. About 36.8% of families and 40.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 47.0% of those under the age of 18 and 11.6% of those ages 65 and older.

As of the census in 2014, there were 556 people left in the city of Wheelwright.

File:Ella Jane Fain (right) daughter of Harry Fain, miner, and her cousin have a coke in soda fountain prior to movie... - NARA - 541426.jpg

Wheelwright is governed by a city commission form of government. Its current mayor is Don "Booty" Hall. The city commission consists of Michael Bub Tackett jr. Dana McCown and Bill Newsome.[http://apps.sos.ky.gov/land/cities/citydetail.asp?id=424&city=Wheelwright&idctr=424 Kentucky Secretary of State-Land Office] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606160530/http://apps.sos.ky.gov/land/cities/citydetail.asp?id=424&city=Wheelwright&idctr=424 |date=June 6, 2011 }} Retrieved on 2010-04-17

Floyd County's public schools are operated by Floyd County Schools. Most students residing in the city of Wheelwright attend:

• South Floyd Elementary School
• Floyd Central High School

The Corrections Corporation of America (now CoreCivic)-owned Otter Creek Correctional Center in Wheelwright closed in 2012, due in part to a riot by Indiana prisoners in 2001, and subsequent widespread sexual abuse of women inmates.[http://www.corrections.com/articles/7810-kentucky-prison-under-lockdown-after-riot Kentucky Prison Under Lockdown After Riot] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004072802/http://www.corrections.com/articles/7810-kentucky-prison-under-lockdown-after-riot |date=October 4, 2015 }}, Associated Press, July 6, 2001. Retrieved 3 October 2015.[http://www.wkyt.com/wymt/home/headlines/Prison_closing_leaving_more_than_170_without_jobs_147379795.html Prison closing leaveing more than 170 jobless], WKYT, October 13, 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2015. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004083600/http://www.wkyt.com/wymt/home/headlines/Prison_closing_leaving_more_than_170_without_jobs_147379795.html |date=October 4, 2015 }} The prison, renamed the Southeast State Correctional Complex and operated by the Kentucky Department of Corrections under a lease from CoreCivic, reopened as a male facility in September 2020.{{Cite web |url=https://corrections.ky.gov/Facilities/AI/SSCC/Pages/default.aspx |title=Southeast State Correctional Complex |access-date=September 2, 2020 |archive-date=October 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018180630/https://corrections.ky.gov/Facilities/AI/SSCC/Pages/default.aspx |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=GovernorBeshear&prId=185 |title=Gov. Beshear Announces Plan to Open Southeast State Correctional Complex in Wheelwright |access-date=September 2, 2020 |archive-date=June 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606220431/https://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=GovernorBeshear&prId=185 |url-status=live }}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt786688jg37/guide Guide to the Bill Kephart collection on Wheelwright (Ky.), 1978-1980] housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center
• [https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt7qnk361p0s/guide Guide to the Wheelwright Collection], 1916-1979 housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center (includes digitized materials)

{{Floyd County, Kentucky}}

{{Eastern Mountain Coal Fields (Kentucky)}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities in Floyd County, Kentucky

Category:Populated places established in 1916

Category:Company towns in Kentucky

Category:Coal towns in Kentucky

Category:1916 establishments in Kentucky

Category:Cities in Kentucky