Пейнтсвилл, Кентукки: История и современность

Paintsville (/local/'/p//eɪ//n//t//s//v//əl/) along Paint Creek in Johnson County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 3,459 during the 2010 U. S. Census.

A Paint Lick Station was referred to in military dispatches as early as 1780. The site was named for Indian art painted on the debarked trees near a local salt lick when the first white settlers arrived and was originally part of a tract belonging to George Lewis. The town was formally established under that name in 1834, Library services were originally provided through the Pack Horse Library Project. Since the 1990s, Paintsville has seen a steady loss of population (4,345 in 1990 to 3,459 in 2010), in part due to a downturn in the economy, and the loss of coal jobs. Despite this, there have been some business developments in the past few years, as well as growing tourist interest. Paintsville has been in the process of revitalizing the downtown area to rejuvenate its original business district. On June 9, 2009, Paintsville became a "wet" city for the first time since March 14, 1945, permitting stores located within the city limits to sell alcoholic beverages.

Paintsville is located at (37.811324, −82.806780) in the bottomland at the confluence of Paint Creek and the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River amid the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in the Cumberland Plateau. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.3 square miles (14 km2), all of it land.

Beginning in 1976, Paintsville's main shopping district has gradually moved from Main Street to Mayo Plaza, which is northwest of downtown. Big box retailers opened in the plaza during the early 1990s. This proved to be too much competition for the small family owned businesses in downtown causing them to close. Today, downtown mostly serves as Paintsville's financial district. In May 2009 Paintsville received a grant to redevelop Main Street in hopes of making it one of the city's popular shopping districts again. In recent years, Mayo Plaza has rapidly expanded. In the early 2000s, a new Wal Mart Supercenter, a new Lowe's, and multiple restaurants opened.

Paintsville has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa). Summers are hot and humid with frequent severe storms. July is the warmest month, with an average high 86 °F (30 °C) and an average low of 66 °F (19 °C). Winters are cold with occasional mild periods. January is the coldest month with an average high of 44 °F (7 °C) and an average low of 24 °F (−4 °C). The highest recorded temperature was 105 °F (41 °C) in 1988 and the lowest recorded temperature was −26 °F (−32 °C) in 1994. May has the highest average rainfall (4.54 inches) and October has the lowest average rainfall (2.97 inches).

The city mayor oversees the following departments: In 2012, the district had a composite ACT score of 22.7. It was the 4th highest composite ACT score out of the 169 school districts in the state of Kentucky. Johnson County Schools also operates three schools within the city of Paintsville: Johnson Central High School, Johnson County Middle School (Kentucky), and Central Elementary School. Johnson County is also well known for its academics. Johnson Central High School has won five international Future Problem Solving titles while the middle school has won 10 Governor's Cup state titles along with three international FPS titles. Our Lady of the Mountains School is a private institution operated by the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Lexington. Big Sandy Community and Technical College operates a campus in Paintsville that offers two year degrees in various fields of study. Paintsville has a lending library, the Johnson County Public Library.

The Kentucky Apple Festival has been held in Paintsville annually since 1962. Events include live music, carnival rides, a pageant, various competitions, a parade, and a car show. The festival occurs annually on the first full weekend in October. The Awaken Conference, an annual Christian concert event attracting thousands of people to the area, is held each July in the city. Paintsville also holds a Spring Fling on Main Street in May.

The U. S. 23 County Music Highway Museum gives information on the country music entertainers who grew up near U. S. 23 in Eastern Kentucky. Country music entertainers profiled in the museum include Loretta Lynn, Crystal Gayle, and Hylo Brown. The historic Mayo Mansion was built for John C. C. Mayo between 1905 and 1912. It now serves as Our Lady of the Mountains School. The Mayo Memorial United Methodist Church was designed by one hundred Italian masons hired by John C. C. Mayo. It has several stained glass windows and has a pipe organ donated by Andrew Carnegie. The first church service was in the fall of 1909. The Mountain Homeplace is a living history museum located within Paintsville Lake State Park, in Staffordsville, Kentucky. The museum is a re creation of a mid nineteenth century farming community and includes a blacksmith shop, one room schoolhouse, church, cabin, and barn with farm grounds. These structures were all moved from nearby locations in the early 1980s to prevent them from being submerged underneath the planned Paintsville Lake. The museum officially opened in July 1995. Tour guides and park workers wearing traditional period attire demonstrate old skills and crafts such as forging horseshoes, quilting, and tending to farm animals. There is also a Welcome Center, consisting of the Museum of Appalachian History and a gift shop featuring regional arts and crafts. The In the Pines Amphitheater was built in the early 2000s and was modeled after the amphitheaters of Ancient Greece. The 700 seat facility is open year round and annually hosts the Red Bud Gospel Sing. The museum is open from April 1 through December 31.

The Paintsville Country Club includes an 18 hole golf course established on September 27, 1929, making it one of the oldest golf courses in Eastern Kentucky. The country club was built in 1930 by the WPA and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Paintsville Recreation Center contains a volleyball court, a basketball court, a walking track, and a playground. There is also a small community garden on site.

The Paintsville Herald is a semi weekly newspaper printed on Wednesday and Friday with a circulation of about 5,200 copies. The newspaper serves Paintsville and the surrounding area. Call sign Frequency Format WKLW 94.7 FM Hot AC WSIP 98.9 FM Country WSIP 1490 AM News/Talk WKYH 600 AM News/Talk WQHY 95.5 FM Top 40

Paintsville ARH Hospital is a full service hospital providing healthcare to the region. It has a full service emergency room with a pediatric trauma room, a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, a special birthing room, and full service surgical services, including a daVinci Si robotic system providing state of the art laparoscopic surgery for the greater Paintsville region.

U. S. Route 23 serves as the bypass for Paintsville. The four lane divided highway links Paintsville to Interstate 64 to the north and U. S. Route 119 and Kentucky Route 80 to the south. U. S. Route 460 links Paintsville to the Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway in Salyersville. Kentucky Route 40 forms both Euclid Avenue and Third Street in Paintsville. It links the city to Inez and also serves as an alternative route to Salyersville. Kentucky Route 321, locally known as South Mayo Trail, serves as the city's main business route and passes through Mayo Plaza.

Located southeast of Paintsville in neighboring Martin County is Big Sandy Regional Airport. The publicly owned, private use airport is used for general aviation. Its main runway is 5,000 ft (1,524 m) long. The nearest airport that provides commercial aviation services is Tri State Airport, 55 mile (89 km) northeast in Ceredo, West Virginia.

The majority of the 1983 film Kentucky Woman was filmed in Paintsville. Paintsville was one of the three filming locations for the 2010 drama film, Passenger Pigeons.