The Corbin area, known originally as Lynn
Camp, was first settled by Europeans around
1800. The present town came into being
when the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
laid the first tracks through the area around
1883. Swampland, chosen because it was both
flat and cheap, was drained to make way for a
depot and roundhouse, and a town soon grew
up around the tracks. During World War I,
African-Americans worked on the railroad
near Corbin, Kentucky. When whites returned
from the war, there was conflict. Whites sought
their former jobs and positions in the
community. In 1919, a race riot occurred.
Whites put the African-Americans on railroad
cars and ran themout of town.[1]The post office
at the site was originally named Cummins for
community founder Nelson Cummins. However,
when it was discovered in 1885 that both
Cummins and Lynn Camp were already in use as
names for Kentucky post offices, postmaster
James Eaton was asked to select another name.
He chose Corbin, perhaps for James Corbin
Floyd, a local minister. (The word itself is
derived from the Latin corvus, meaning raven;
compare French corbeau.)The town was
incorporated under that name in 1905.
