Lynch, a small Harlan county town, was built by the U.S. Coal and Coke Company, part of United States Steel, in 1917 and named for Thomas Lynch, the company's first president. The Lynch Mines post office opened in 1918 and was renamed Lynch in 1922. The population peaked around 10,000 and in 1990 was 1,166. The town was sold to the residents in the 1950s and incorporated in 1963. Lynch is at the foot of Black Mountain on Looney Creek and KY 160.