Whitley County courthouse in Williamsburg
Location in the U.S. state of Kentucky
Kentucky's location in the U.S.
|Founded||January 17, 1818|
|Named for||William Whitley|
|• Total||445 sq mi (1,153 km2)|
|• Land||438 sq mi (1,134 km2)|
|• Water||7.3 sq mi (19 km2), 1.6%|
|• Density||81/sq mi (31/km²)|
|Time zone||Eastern: UTC-5/-4|
Whitley County is a county situated in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 35,637. The county seat is at Williamsburg, though the largest city is Corbin, and the county's District Court (a trial court of limited jurisdiction) sits in both cities.
- 1 History
- 2 Law and government
- 3 Public corruption
- 4 Geography
- 5 Transportation
- 6 Demographics
- 7 Economy
- 8 Education
- 9 Alcohol sales
- 10 Communities
- 11 See also
- 12 References
Whitley County is located within the Cumberland Plateau of southeastern Kentucky, which is greatly overlapped by the broad Eastern Coal Field region of the state. Because of its location in the midst of Cumberland Mountains, elevations in the county range from 723 feet (220 m) to 2,220 feet (680 m) above sea level. 38,000 acres (150 km2) of western Whitley County are preserved within the Daniel Boone National Forest. Cumberland Falls, located in Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, is the site of the largest waterfall in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Both Daniel Boone Forest and Cumberland Falls State Park are operated by the Kentucky State Parks system, also located in the county. Two regionally significant waterways meander through the county, namely the Laurel and Cumberland river.
- Cumberland Falls
- Cumberland Plateau
- Cumberland River
- Jellico Mountain
- Laurel River
- Laurel River Lake
- Laurel County - north
- Knox County - northeast
- Bell County - east
- Claiborne County, Tennessee - southeast
- Campbell County, Tennessee - south
- McCreary County - west
National protected area
- Daniel Boone National Forest (part)
- Interstate 75
- U.S. Route 25W
- Kentucky Route 11
- Kentucky Route 26
- Kentucky Route 90
- Kentucky Route 92
- Kentucky Route 312
- Kentucky Route 904
- KBYL, Williamsburg-Whitley County Airport
The University of the Cumberlands (formerly known as Cumberland College), located in Williamsburg, is the largest private university in Kentucky, and the only university with its main campus in Whitley County. The school's sports teams play on the NAIA level and provide college level sporting events for the local community. In addition, Eastern Kentucky University maintains a branch campus in the Whitley County portion of Corbin.
Whitley County, which had historically been dry, is now officially classified by the state as a moist county. This means that the sale of alcohol in the county is prohibited except in certain areas as voted on by the residents of the area, including at least one area of the county allowing full retail alcohol sales. In Whitley County, the areas that permit alcohol sales are:
- The city of Corbin voted in February 2012 to allow full retail alcohol sales in the city limits after voting in 2006 to allow by the drink alcohol sales in qualifying restaurants.
- The city of Williamsburg voted in March 2012 to allow by the drink alcohol sales by restaurants in the city limits which seat at least 100 diners and derive at least 70% of their total sales from food.