Prestonsburg, Kentucky

Prestonsburg is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 3,255 at the time of the 2010 census.

History

The area was part of the 100,000-acre (400 km²) grant to the family of Col. John Preston's wife, which he administered on her behalf. The grant was intended to permit British colonization beyond the Blue Mountains but subsequent French and Indian resistance and a reversal of British policy limited its impact. The land was not settled until John Spurlock of Montgomery County, Virginia, arrived in 1791. He laid out the town of Preston's Station in 1797. It became the seat of Floyd Co. upon its formation in 1799 and was formally established in 1818. The post office was known as Floyd Court House from its establishment in 1816 until the late 1820s, when it was renamed Prestonsburg.

On January 10, 1862, nearby Middle Creek was the scene of the largest battle of the Civil War to occur in Eastern Kentucky.

Culture