Cards, Coal, and the Cumberland Gap: Middlesboro’s Untold Story

Once known across the region as Little Las Vegas, Middlesboro was a town of bright lights, coal money, gambling halls, and contradictions—nestled deep in the Appalachian Mountains. In this episode of Appalachian Shine, we explore the full story of Middlesboro from its ambitious founding in the late 19th century to its wild boomtown years, its crackdowns and coal decline, and its enduring…