CITY OF
MIDDLESBORO
ABOUT THE CITY OF MIDDLESBORO
MAYOR
BOONE BOWLING
A little about us
It is located one mile west of the Cumberland Gap and is the largest city in southeastern Kentucky. It is located entirely between Pine Mountain and the Cumberland Mountains in the Middlesboro Basin, an enormous meteorite crater (one of three known astroblemes in the state).
The city is the only one in the United States built entirely inside such a crater, as well as the home of ragtime music and the oldest continuously-played golf course in the country.
Our History
Originally founded by English businessmen, the town opened its first post office on September 14, 1888, under the name Middlesborough, presumably in honor of the English town of almost the same name.
The city was formally incorporated under that spelling on March 14 two years later, but the post office switched to "Middlesboro" in 1894 and that spelling has since been adopted by the city itself, the Kentucky Land Office, and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. Some still contend "Middlesborough" remains official, however.
The area was originally inhabited by American Indians such as the Shawnee. The first European known to have visited the area was Gabriel Arthur in 1674. He was later followed by Thomas Walker in 1750 and Daniel Boone in 1769.