Wheelwright, Kentucky

Wheelwright is a Floyd county city along the Right Fork of Otter Creek about 33 miles south of Prestonsburg. It was established in 1916 by the Elk Horn Coal Company and named for Jere H. Wheelwright, president of the Consolidation Coal Company.

Wheelwright was incorporated in 1917.

The Wheelwright post office opened in 1916.

The population in 2020 was 504.

Just to the north of Wheelwright, and now mostly within the boundaries of the town, is the community of Bypro or Wheelwright Junction. The site may have been known as Briar Bottom in the nineteenth century. In 1926 the Bypro post office opened, named for the Byproduct Coal Company. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad station at the site was known as Wheelwright Junction.

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© 2024 David C. Elbon