Our Community

Situated forty five miles northwest from the Virginia state line, one hundred miles northeast from the Tennessee state line, and one hundred and forty miles south southwest from the West Virginia state line, Hazard, Kentucky nestles its city limits deep within the Appalachian Mountains in Perry County. The County, formed in 1820, provided a haven for war veterans who served their country. Hazard, named for Oliver Hazard Perry, became the County Seat in 1820. The story goes that Elijah Combs, the first settler in the area built three cabins that formed the city proper in its very beginning. Combs later deeded ten acres to the city to form its first city limits. Now, some 189 years later, many of Elijah Combs’s descendants fill Perry County.

Hazard is now the hub of activity for an area that includes Perry, Breathitt, Leslie, Knott, Lee, Wolfe, Letcher, and Clay Counties. Mining, manufacturing, health care, and education provide the majority of jobs. The town celebrates its culture each September with the Black Gold Festival, one of many festivals that fill many weekends in Southeast Kentucky.