Van Lear, Kentucky
Van Lear is a Johnson county community about six miles southeast of Paintsville on Miller Creek. The town was established by the Consolidation Coal Company in 1909 and named for Van Lear Black, a member of its board of directors. Consolidation sold the mines and town and mining mostly came to an end in 1946.
The town was chartered in 1912, but was dissolved in the 1960s. It was incorporated again in 1991 and dissolved in 1996.
The Van Lear post office opened in 1909. The Auxier post office operated in the vicinity of Van Lear from 1897 to 1899 and from 1902 to 1909, when it moved to Floyd county.
The population of Van Lear in 1990, before it was dissolved, was 1,050. The population peaked around 1930 when the census found 2,338 residents.
To the northeast of Van Lear off Miller Creek Road is the valley known as Butcher Hollow, the birthplace of musician Loretta Lynn. Her homeplace is now a museum.
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