The Benham Historic District is a historic district encompassing ten buildings and a public park in Benham,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. The buildings form the historic center of the

coal town A coal town, also known as a coal camp or patch, is a type of company town or mining community established by the employer, a mining company, which imports workers to the site to work the mineral find. The company develops it and provides residen ...

of Benham. Benham was founded by Wisconsin Steel, a subsidiary of

International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...

, in 1912; its major buildings were built between 1919 and 1928, replacing the original buildings as the town grew. Mining operations declined during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and as a result the district represents the main period of development in the town. The buildings in the district include Benham's city hall, post office, grade school,

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

church, jail, theatre, hospital, firehouse,

company store A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

, and meat market.Accompanied by photos
The district was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on July 21, 1983. The company store is now home to the Kentucky Coal Museum.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Harlan County, Kentucky Company towns in Kentucky Navistar International Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky {{HarlanCountyKY-NRHP-stub