The following events occurred during the week of Aug. 27 through Sept. 2 in Bell County:

1886: Alexander Arthur and his friends from Ashville, who have come to investigate the area’s possibilities, camp at the saddle of the Gap. They are awakened by an earthquake.

1889: The L & N Railroad track from Pineville to Middlesboro is completed.

1891: Grand Jury returns indictments against 13 people in connection with the lynching of Frank Rasmussin, who was hung off the 20th Street bridge in Middlesboro.

1927: Over 500 people are employed daily at Big Ben Manufacturing. (Building where Cardwell’s Furniture is now located.)

1929: All past records for visitation by tourists to Middlesboro are surpassed this Labor Day weekend. Every hotel, tourist camp and rooming house is filled, and some tourists have been taken into private homes.

To learn more about local history, visit the Bell County Museum, located just north of the Middlesboro Post Office, Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.