Beattyville, Kentucky
county seat in Kentucky
Beattyville is a home rule class city in, and the county seat of, Lee County, Kentucky, United States. The city was formally established by the state assembly as "Beatty" in 1851 and incorporated in 1872. It was named for Samuel Beatty, a pioneer settler. As of the 2020 census, Beattyville had a population of 2,176.
Geography
Beattyville is in central Lee County at the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Kentucky River, a tributary of the Ohio River in central Appalachia.
Kentucky Route 11 passes through the city, crossing the North and South Forks of the Kentucky on separate bridges. The highway leads north 30 miles (48 km) to Stanton and south 45 miles (72 km) to Manchester. Kentucky Route 52 joins KY 11 to cross the North Fork of the Kentucky River but leads northwest 22 miles (35 km) to Irvine and east 24 miles (39 km) to Jackson.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.3 square miles (6.0 km2), of which 0.01 square miles (0.02 km2), or 0.41%, are water.
Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Beattyville, Kentucky” is county seat in Kentucky. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Beattyville, Kentucky and county, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “county seat in Kentucky” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2485781. VIAF identifies the subject as 126775251. The Library of Congress control number is n88155799. Authority coordinates are 37.577, -83.710. 2 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1851, 1872 and 2020.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Beattyville, Kentucky”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Beattyville, Kentucky primary sources, Beattyville, Kentucky archive and Beattyville research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Beattyville, Kentucky”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Beattyville, Kentucky” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.