Kenvir is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

and

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Harlan County,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, United States. Its population was 297 as of the 2010 census. It is located 8 miles east of

Harlan Harlan is a given name and a surname which may refer to: Surname * Abram D. Harlan (1833–1908), American politician from Pennsylvania * Bob Harlan (born 1936 Robert E. Harlan), American football executive * Bruce Harlan (1926–1959), America ...

, the county seat of Harlan County. The area is known locally as Black Mountain.

History

Kenvir was founded by the Black Mountain Coal Company in 1919 on Yocum Creek, a tributary of the Clover Fork. It was named for its closeness to the Kentucky-

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

border. In January 1921, the Dizney post office was moved to serve the area, and was renamed to Kenvir, with Roscoe Weaver as its postmaster. The Kenvir post office continues to serve the area with the ZIP Code 40847. At its peak, Kenvir had a population of 5,000, two schools, a hospital, five churches, and a movie theater.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, Kenvir had a population of 204 people, down from 297 at the 2010 census.

References

Census-designated places in Harlan County, Kentucky Census-designated places in Kentucky Unincorporated communities in Kentucky Unincorporated communities in Harlan County, Kentucky {{HarlanCountyKY-geo-stub