Near Nolan WV in Martin County, Kentucky — The American South (East South Central)

Huntleyville

Photographed By J. J. Prats, October 20, 2019

1. Huntleyville Marker

Inscription. So named after Chet Huntley, a former NBC News Correspondent and part of NBC’s ‘Huntley-Brinkley Report’ team, whose publicity in 1965 aided a small group of Eastern Kentuckians in building a badly needed road which is now known as the Huntley-Brinkley road. Mr. Huntley died of lung cancer in 1974. He was respected as a hardworking and often outspoken journalist. Each of us would do well to remember his closing advice before retiring from NBC News—“Be patient and have courage—there will be better and happier news someday, if we work at it.”

Erected 1974.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Communications • Political Subdivisions. In addition, it is included in the Kentucky Historical Society series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1965.

Location. 37° 45.827′ N, 82° 19.212′ W. Marker is near Nolan WV, Kentucky, in Martin County. Marker is on Huntley-Brinkley Road (Kentucky Route 292) 2.8 miles north of North Big Creek Road (Kentucky Route 468), on the left. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Pilgrim KY 41250, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. West Virginia (Mingo County) / Kentucky (approx. 6.6 miles away in West Virginia); Chief Logan

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(approx. 6.7 miles away in West Virginia); Williamson, Mingo County (approx. 6.7 miles away in West Virginia); a different marker also named Williamson (approx. 6.7 miles away in West Virginia); Lewis' Expedition (approx. 6.7 miles away in West Virginia); Williamson and the Railroad (approx. 6.7 miles away in West Virginia); Veterans Memorial (approx. 6.7 miles away in West Virginia); Williamson Historic District (approx. 6.7 miles away in West Virginia).

Regarding Huntleyville. An article in the January 3, 1982 Louisville Courier-Journal (archived behind a paywall, writer not credited) reports that back before 1965 there was no road through here. Headlined “Kentucky town is thankful for legacy to newsman who drove story home,” it tells of the people living here who, to get to the nearest road, walked miles along a muddy “dog path” or rowed a boat on the dangerous Tug Fork river. One baby drowned, her mother rowing to get her to the doctor when their boat capsized. A promised road had been built by the state as far as the town of Lovely, but years later the last 4.7 miles were still unbuilt. The citizens of this stretch of

Huntleyville and the Huntleyville Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By J. J. Prats, October 20, 2019

2. Huntleyville and the Huntleyville Marker

The houses on the right side of the Huntley-Brinkley Road back to the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River, the dividing line between Kentucky and West Virginia.

the Tug Fork set about to finish the road themselves.

That year NBC News sent a film crew to see “what the ruckus was all about” and, with cameramen wading through mud the residents had braved for years, they filmed the conditions along this roadless stretch of river. When the story aired nationally on NBC’s Huntley-Brinkley Report things began to happen. Letters of support came in from all over the world and other reporters made their way to this forgotten corner of eastern Kentucky to report on the progress. The road was finished that year.

The road became known as the Huntley-Brinkley Road and in 1974, when Chet Huntley died of lung cancer, these residents raised $687 to cast and erect this historical marker to memorialize the publicity that in 1965 aided them in completing a badly-needed road, dubbing their community Huntleyville.

Also see . . . Wikipedia entry for The Huntley-Brinkley Report. Excerpt:

The Huntley–Brinkley Report was an American evening news program that aired on the National Broadcasting Company’s network of television stations from October 29, 1956, to July 31, 1970. It was anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City, and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C. ... The program ran for 15 minutes at its inception but expanded to 30 minutes
NBC Television Publicity Photo, via Wikipedia Commons, February 15, 1968

3. Journalist Chet Huntley
on September 9, 1963, exactly a week after the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite did so. ...

By 1965, the program brought in more advertising revenue than any other on television. On November 15 of that year, The Huntley-Brinkley Report became the first weekday network evening news program broadcast in color. ...

Upon Huntley’s retirement in 1970, the network renamed the program the NBC Nightly News. Huntley died in 1974. Brinkley worked as co-anchor or commentator on Nightly News until 1981.

NBC Nightly News is still on the air today, broadcast every evening, seven days a week. After Chet Huntley and David Brinkey, the hosts were John Chancellor and David Brinkley through 1982, Tom Brokaw through 2004, Brian Williams through 2015, and now Lester Holt. (Submitted on March 2, 2020.)

Credits. This page was last revised on March 8, 2020. It was originally submitted on March 2, 2020, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 504 times since then and 37 times this year. It was the Marker of the Week March 8, 2020. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 2, 2020, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. 3. submitted on March 3, 2020, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.