Appalachian Community Histories – Watts, Breathitt County: Leatherwood Creek, Post Office Records, and a Community Kept on the Map
In the hills of Breathitt County, some places carry more than one name because the people, the creek, the road, and the post office did not always agree on what should be written down. Watts is one of those places. On maps and in later government records it appears as Watts, but older memory and many historical records point back to Leatherwood.
That older name came from Leatherwood Creek and Little Leatherwood Creek, the branches and hollows that gave shape to the settlement before it had a stronger paper identity. To understand Watts, a researcher has to follow both names. Watts was never only a dot on a map. It was also a creek community, a family name, a postal name, a school neighborhood, and a piece of the Lost Creek country of Breathitt County.
The official geographic record places Watts in Breathitt County on the Haddix topographic quadrangle. It also preserves Leatherwood as an alternate name. That detail matters. It shows what many Appalachian communities already know from experience. A place can change names in federal records and still keep its older name in local speech.
In the Hills of Breathitt County
Breathitt County was created in 1839 in the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field. The county’s terrain shaped its settlements from the beginning. The Kentucky Geological Survey describes Breathitt County as part of a highly dissected section of the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field, where most flat land is limited to narrow valley strips and where ridges and deep V-shaped valleys divide the country.
That kind of land explains why small communities like Watts grew along creeks and roads instead of around broad town centers. In mountain counties, a creek could be more than a stream. It could be an address, a school district, a road corridor, a church neighborhood, and a family settlement all at once. Leatherwood Creek gave the community its older identity because the creek was the geography people used every day.
Leatherwood and Little Leatherwood also tied the place to Lost Creek and the wider North Fork of the Kentucky River region. The road network, the post office, and the later public records followed the shape of the valleys. In that sense, Watts was not a place created suddenly by a mapmaker. It grew out of the older creek settlement that had already taken root.
Coal Under the Hills
The written record of Leatherwood becomes clearer in the early twentieth century because coal surveyors were examining the hills around Lost Creek and the North Fork of the Kentucky River. James M. Hodge’s 1918 Kentucky Geological Survey report, Coals of the North Fork of Kentucky River in Perry and Portions of Breathitt and Knott Counties, is one of the most important technical sources for this area.
Hodge’s report was based on field work from 1912 through 1915 and covered Troublesome Creek, the headwaters of Lost Creek, and tributaries of the North Fork of the Kentucky River. In the table of contents, Leatherwood Creek and Little Leatherwood appear as named places of geological interest. This does not mean a large town existed there. It means the creek and its branches were important enough to be measured, described, and entered into the state’s coal record.
The report describes coal beds, sandstone, fire clay, openings, entries, and branches along Leatherwood and Little Leatherwood. It places Leatherwood within the same world that shaped much of Breathitt County in the twentieth century, where geology, land ownership, labor, and transportation all mattered. The hills were not only homeplaces. They were also watched by surveyors, coal men, land companies, and government agencies.
For Watts, this geological record is useful because it helps explain why the area entered public records before it became widely known under the Watts name. Leatherwood was the older landscape name. Coal surveyors followed the creek name because that was how the land was organized.
The Post Office Story
The strongest clue to the change from Leatherwood to Watts comes through postal history. In rural Appalachia, a post office was often the record that gave a small settlement its most official name. The post office was where letters, newspapers, orders, notices, and government documents passed through the community. When a post office opened, closed, moved, or changed names, the identity of the place often changed with it.
Postal historian Robert M. Rennick’s work on Breathitt County post offices identifies Leatherwood as a post office established on June 18, 1913 by Lewis Watts. It closed in 1919, then was re-established in the winter of 1934 to 1935. In 1949, the Leatherwood post office was renamed Watts after the Watts family. The office later operated as a rural branch until 1973.
That timeline gives the community a clear documentary arc. First came Leatherwood, rooted in the creek name. Then came the Watts family name, carried into the postal record. The older name did not disappear from local use, but the federal name changed. From that point forward, a researcher looking for the place has to search under both names.
This is a common problem in Appalachian local history. A family name, a creek name, a post office name, and a map name may all point to the same settlement. Leatherwood and Watts are not separate stories. They are two layers of the same place.
Schools, Roads, and Family Memory
The history of Watts is not only found in geological reports and postal records. It also survives through school references, family names, cemetery records, and local newspapers. Breathitt County newspapers such as the Breathitt County News and The Jackson Times are important because they recorded the ordinary facts that larger histories often missed. They carried school lists, deaths, land matters, court notices, advertisements, and community items.
Local history references point to Leatherwood School and to families connected with the Watts, Noble, Combs, Francis, and related lines. These kinds of sources need careful checking against deeds, death certificates, census schedules, and cemetery stones, but they help show how the community worked on the ground. People walked from branches and hollows to school. Families were identified by creek, road, and neighborhood. A person might be described as from Leatherwood, Watts, Lost Creek, or Breathitt County, depending on the record.
That is why Watts should not be researched only as a modern populated place. The deeper trail runs through Leatherwood Creek, Little Leatherwood, Watts Road, Lost Creek, and the older family settlements around them.
Watts in Modern Records
Even after the post office story faded, Watts continued to appear in public records. A 2001 Kentucky Public Service Commission order concerned a proposed wireless telecommunications tower in Watts, Kentucky. The order placed the facility at 1650 Watts Road, Lost Creek, Breathitt County. That record shows that Watts remained a recognized place name in modern government use.
A 2007 Public Service Commission filing also referred to Watts as a remaining community needing waterlines through a Community Development Block Grant. That language is important because it treats Watts not only as a road name or map label, but as a living community with public infrastructure needs.
Modern transportation and school records also preserve the name through routes such as Watts, Old Watts Loop, Leatherwood, and Little Leatherwood. These records may seem ordinary, but ordinary records are often where small Appalachian places survive most clearly. A place name can remain alive on a bus route, a water project, a road map, or a family cemetery long after the post office has closed.
Why Watts Matters
Watts matters because it shows how small Appalachian communities are built from layers of memory and record. The creek name came first in the local landscape. The Watts family name entered the postal record. The geological surveys recorded Leatherwood because coal and land mattered. Later public service records recorded Watts because roads, towers, and waterlines mattered.
None of those records tells the whole story alone. Together they show a Breathitt County settlement that moved through several kinds of public identity without losing its older roots.
For a historian, Watts is a reminder to search patiently. Look for Watts, Leatherwood, Leatherwood Creek, Little Leatherwood, Lost Creek, and Watts Road. Look in post office records, topographic maps, coal reports, newspapers, county deeds, vital records, and cemetery files. The place may appear under one name in one record and another name in the next.
For the people who lived there, the name on the map was only part of the truth. The fuller story was in the creek, the road, the school, the mail route, the family names, and the hills around them.
Watts is not a large town history. It is something quieter and more common in the mountains. It is the history of a place that stayed small, changed names, and remained rooted in the land that first gave it a name.
Sources & Further Reading
United States Geological Survey. “Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).” U.S. Geological Survey. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.usgs.gov/tools/geographic-names-information-system-gnis
MyTopo. “Leatherwood Creek, Stream in Breathitt County, Kentucky.” MyTopo. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://geo.mytopo.com/feature/kentucky/breathitt/stream/496124/leatherwood-creek/
MyTopo. “Watts, Populated Place in Breathitt County, Kentucky.” MyTopo. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://geo.mytopo.com/feature/kentucky/breathitt/populated-place/509325/watts/
United States Geological Survey. “Historical Topographic Maps: Preserving the Past.” U.S. Geological Survey. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.usgs.gov/programs/national-geospatial-program/historical-topographic-maps-preserving-past
United States Geological Survey. “topoView.” U.S. Geological Survey. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/
United States Geological Survey. “Haddix, KY Historical Map GeoPDF 7.5 x 7.5.” USGS Store. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://store.usgs.gov/product/864046
Mixon, Robert B. Geologic Map of the Haddix Quadrangle, Eastern Kentucky. U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-447. Washington, DC: U.S. Geological Survey, 1965. https://www.usgs.gov/publications/geologic-map-haddix-quadrangle-eastern-kentucky
Kentucky Geological Survey. “Groundwater Resources of Breathitt County, Kentucky: Topography.” University of Kentucky. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.uky.edu/KGS/water/library/gwatlas/Breathitt/Topography.htm
Kentucky Geological Survey. “Eastern Kentucky Coal Field.” University of Kentucky. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.uky.edu/KGS/geoky/regioneastern.htm
Hodge, James Michael. Coals of the North Fork of Kentucky River in Perry and Portions of Breathitt and Knott Counties. Frankfort, KY: State Journal Company, 1918. https://archive.org/details/coalsofnorthfork00hodgrich
National Archives. “Appointment of Postmasters, 1832 to September 30, 1971.” National Archives. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.archives.gov/research/post-offices/postmasters-1832-1971.html
National Archives. “Post Office Reports of Site Locations, 1837–1950.” National Archives. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.archives.gov/research/post-offices/locations-1837-1950.html
National Archives. “Post Office Records.” National Archives. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.archives.gov/research/post-offices
United States Postal Service. “Additional Resources: Postal History.” USPS. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/research-sources.htm
United States Postal Service. Sources of Historical Information on Post Offices, Postal Employees, Mail Routes, and Mail Contractors. Washington, DC: United States Postal Service, 2026. https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/pdf/sources-of-historical-information.pdf
Rennick, Robert M. “Breathitt County – Post Offices.” Morehead State University, 2000. https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1157&context=kentucky_county_histories
Library of Congress. “Breathitt County News, Jackson, Kentucky.” Chronicling America. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn86069667/
Library of Congress. “Breathitt County News, Jackson, Kentucky, June 28, 1907.” Chronicling America. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn86069667/1907-06-28/ed-1/
Breathitt County Public Library. “Research Room.” Breathitt County Public Library. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.breathittcountylibrary.com/genealogy2.html
Community History Archives. “Breathitt County Public Library.” Advantage Archives. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://communityhistoryarchives.com/places/breathitt-county-public-library/
Breathitt County Clerk. “Breathitt County Clerk: Home.” Breathitt County Clerk. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://breathitt.countyclerk.us/
Breathitt County Clerk. “Records.” Breathitt County Clerk. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://breathitt.countyclerk.us/records-2/
Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. “Requesting Records from the Archives.” Commonwealth of Kentucky. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://kdla.ky.gov/Archives-and-Reference/Pages/Records-Requests.aspx
Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. “Death Certificates.” Commonwealth of Kentucky. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dehp/vsb/Pages/death-certificates.aspx
FamilySearch. “Breathitt County, Kentucky Genealogy.” FamilySearch Wiki. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Breathitt_County%2C_Kentucky_Genealogy
FamilySearch. “Kentucky, Deaths, 1911–1967.” FamilySearch. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/1417491
National Archives. “1950 Census.” National Archives. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://1950census.archives.gov/
National Archives. “Enumeration District Maps.” 1950 Census. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://1950census.archives.gov/howto/ed-maps.html
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. State Primary Road System: Breathitt County, Kentucky. Frankfort, KY: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, 2024. https://transportation.ky.gov/Planning/SPRS%20Maps/Breathitt.pdf
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. “State Primary Road System.” Commonwealth of Kentucky. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://transportation.ky.gov/Planning/Pages/State-Primary-Road-System.aspx
Kentucky Public Service Commission. Order, Case No. 2001-00264, Application of East Kentucky Network, LLC for a Wireless Telecommunications Facility in Watts, Kentucky. Frankfort, KY: Kentucky Public Service Commission, November 19, 2001. https://psc.ky.gov/order_vault/Orders_2001/200100264_111901.pdf
Kentucky Public Service Commission. “View Case Filings for Case No. 2007-00493.” Kentucky Public Service Commission. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://psc.ky.gov/Case/ViewCaseFilings/2007-00493
Breathitt County Schools. “2025–2026 School Bus Route Information.” Breathitt County Schools, 2025. https://www.breathitt.k12.ky.us/uploaded/Transportation/school_bus_routes_2025-26_.pdf
Kentucky Atlas and Gazetteer. “Breathitt County, Kentucky.” Kentucky Atlas and Gazetteer. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.kyatlas.com/21025d.html
Appalachian Regional Commission. “Kentucky.” Appalachian Regional Commission. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.arc.gov/appalachian-states/kentucky/
Author Note: For readers with family ties to Watts, Leatherwood, or Lost Creek, this article is meant as a starting place rather than the last word. Small communities often survive in post office records, creek names, school routes, cemeteries, and family papers, so local corrections and memories are always welcome.