Middlesborough, KY

Middlesborough, also written Middlesboro, is a city in Bell County near the Cumberland Gap. The 2020 census counted 9,405 residents. A Kentucky historical marker says an English-backed colony founded the town in 1886, named it for Middlesborough, England, and developed a railroad to Knoxville and a tunnel at Cumberland Gap. The city occupies the circular Middlesboro Basin between Appalachian ridges; National Park Service geologic research identifies deformed rock there as evidence of an ancient meteorite impact. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park adjoins the basin, and its visitor center is in Middlesboro.