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Home , Cumberland Gap, Cumberland Gap Tunnel, Hensley Settlement, Wilderness Road

• U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Foundation Document Overview National Historical Park , , and

Contact Information For more information about the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Foundation Document, contact: [email protected] or (606)248-2817 or write to: Superintendent, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, 91 Bartlett Park Road, Middlesboro, KY 40965 Purpose Significance

Significance statements express why Cumberland Gap National Historical Park resources and values are important enough to merit national park unit designation. Statements of significance describe why an area is important within a global, national, regional, and systemwide context. These statements are linked to the purpose of the park unit, and are supported by data, research, and consensus. Significance statements describe the distinctive nature of the park and inform management decisions, focusing efforts on preserving and protecting the most important resources and values of the park unit.

• Crossing the Great Appalachian Barrier. The Cumberland Gap represents a turning point in American history as the Gap witnessed nearly 300,000 settlers pushing through the Appalachian barrier during the late 18th to early 19th century. Today some 40 million Americans can trace their history to crossing through the Gap.

• Geology. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park protects an extensive array of geologic features formed over the course of hundreds of millions of years in the wake of numerous Appalachian orogenies (mountain-forming periods). The park’s notable concentration of caves and The purpose of Cumberland Gap karst formations, cliffs, pinnacles, and other geologic National Historical Park is to features provide a valuable window into the dynamic nature preserve, protect, and interpret the of the landscape and the impact of geology on human geologic “doorway to the west”—the migration and culture. Cumberland Gap—through the • . The Hensley Settlement provides southern , a rare vision of a farming community lifestyle that was together with the natural, historic, declining during a time of dramatic change in . and cultural features that have made During its existence (1903–1951), the settlement witnessed a shift from a largely self-sufficient farming economy to mining the area integral to and symbolic of and timber resource extraction and the related impacts on centuries of American history. the Appalachian economic culture. The settlement maintains its remoteness today as it did during its existence. Significance Fundamental Resources and Values

• Strategic Civil War Location. Situated between the neutral Fundamental resources and values are those features, systems, state of Kentucky and the Confederate states of Tennessee processes, experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or and Virginia, the Cumberland Gap illustrates a divided other attributes determined to merit primary consideration nation in conflict, sometimes within a single household, during planning and management processes because they are as well as marking a strategic location and narrow essential to achieving the purpose of the park and maintaining transportation route that changed hands several times its significance. throughout the Civil War. • The Cumberland Gap and the • Transportation Corridor. For centuries, the Cumberland Gap has served as a critical transportation corridor for • Diverse Ecological Landscape people and animals traversing the southern Appalachian Mountains. Bison and other animals first traveled the path • Geologic Features of least resistance; their trails were followed by American • Prehistoric and Historic Sites Indians and early American pioneers. The Gap continued to serve as a transportation artery for the region throughout the • Trails and Viewsheds 20th century. Today, traffic has been rerouted through the , allowing visitors and animals to • Wilderness Character walk the restored Wilderness Road Trail in the footsteps of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park contains other the thousands who came before them. resources and values that may not be fundamental to the • Wilderness Character. In 1978, the president recommended purpose and significance of the park, but are important to that Congress designate more than 60% of Cumberland Gap consider in management and planning decisions. These are National Historical Park as wilderness under the Wilderness referred to as other important resources and values. Act of 1964. The recommended wilderness at Cumberland Gap—the largest protected wildlands in the Cumberland • Cumberland Gap Tunnel Mountains—offers extensive opportunities for solitude and • Chadwell Gap Coal Company Historic District primitive recreation in one of the most biologically rich and diverse forest ecosystems in the eastern . • Museum and Archival Collections Description

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park encompasses Another key historic resource in the park is Hensley Settlement, 24,547 acres on the boundaries of Kentucky, Tennessee, and a community of scattered farmsteads on an isolated plateau on Virginia. Carved by wind and water, Cumberland Gap forms Brush Mountain. Originally established by Sherman Hensley a prominent break in the formidable Appalachian Mountain around 1903, the settlement consists of more than 40 historic chain. The park ranges from 1 to 4 miles in width, and structures, including several log cabin homes, split rail fences, stretches for 20 miles astride the forested Cumberland and and a one-room log cabin schoolhouse. Brush Mountains. Approximately 4,000 acres of the Fern Lake watershed is also in the park. East of the Cumberland Gap The natural resources of Cumberland Gap National Historical (the Gap), more than 14,000 acres of roadless lands have been Park are rich and diverse, with 90% forest cover and more than recommended to Congress for wilderness designation. 62 miles of streams. The majority of the forest is a mix of second- and third-growth Eastern hardwood and conifers. The park also The park was authorized by Congress on June 11, 1940, to supports a diversity of flora and fauna, including 970 vascular commemorate the story of the first “doorway to the west.” In plant species (90 of which are rare or sensitive), 145 species, the late 17th century, the route into the rich hunting lands of 40 species, 25 fish species, and 35 reptile and amphibian “Kaintucke” was known to several American Indian tribes, but species. In addition, the park contains more than 30 known cave only a few Europeans. In 1775, a little known hunter named features, including Gap Cave, which is part of a major cave system. was commissioned to blaze a road through the Gap. Boone’s Trace evolved into the Wilderness Road, The park’s forested landscape has been altered by the Civil War, establishing Boone’s place in history as a frontiersman and logging, agriculture, mining, and road construction. The pathfinder. The Cumberland Gap subsequently became the blight in the early 20th century also drastically changed the

To Pineville (site of To 119 historic Cumberland Ford) To Corbin THE NARROWS first and foremost avenue forPINE the settlement of the nation’s landscape, eliminating a species that once dominated the park. and PINE MOUNTAIN 75

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A R CumberlandB Gap National Historical Park today receives nearly N E r IV o D R w ND

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L i a IV R e t 119 E s h E C During the Civil War, the Gap was strategicallyR important B 900,000 visitors annually. The park contains more thanF 85 miles

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M e r U e k C k Oaks 190 ek 25E Cre to both the CConfederatelear and Union armies. There was no of foot and horse trails, and five backcountry camping areas. Calvin Flag Top 2295ft

700m military railroad near the Gap, so defenses were constructed Popular activities include sightseeing, hiking, horseback riding,

1825ft L H k I S e 565m re T 1534 C T A L N s E I N and portions of the Wilderness Road were used to transport photography, camping, Brownie and guided tours of B Gap CaveT A and the I 987 L N W N A C K M O U KENTUCKY RIDGE il A nno l a n ia C C m Cubage STATE FOREST reek 1344 T C s To Ferndale D E A B N O r S supplies, troops, and ordnance. a H R Hensley Settlement. L n 1871ft I k a U c 987 A e n h 570m R e c

r e O X 2130ft M C s S ies Creek 649m i n C C l w l ro M r C B e R B u

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O Hensley Hensley U r Cemetery M a HENSLEY Martins B R Camp E N e R I l KENTUCKY Fork L A rk SETTLEMENT A N Sand T C D U N Y o M O K Cave C F White Rocks TU e r N l Meldrum ea B KE t Cl R A I White Rocks Overlook IA t id L E IN i g S Shillalah Creek e T M E A RG L k rail D O W S HITE RO VI trailhead e Chadwell Gap Chadwell Gap W CKS ail e C Tr r Ew eek C Trail i S r n l C 3385ft T g e h h h ra a la il a C i l 1032m L 188 l la la C A P A r l il l I R r e a i K h R 3513ft F e l S h 217 a O k o S 1071m e rk k h re Y T C E S n L I dia L SHILLALAH CREEK H In

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V WILDLIFE il ra 688 e T L K 988 MANAGEMENT g D B id Branc E R A h Hutch e y

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e a No trailers allowed c B n O P O To 81 K v R r ch O n a il I V n s Butchers O A L L E Y a W N and Bristol E T R r R c G D 2819ft Gap h R B O A V L a G 859m A A L L I r L E E g E S d Y R I D G D L N in Y 988 I e 690 690 r Route of the E V n G nch D a ra 724 Wilderness Road l B o E e P R aur Gibson Gap L A 3486 G Wilderness Road Ewing Sugar Run Pen State Park C dle Caylor h D to a n n c

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h i O r P h C o L a L R Airport Cumberland r n S s T L Statio es t n O r Gap e er e g MIDDLESBORO id H ild e 1600ft R W t S I e 488m f th W o Pinnacle E te L u Ro 74 Overlook G E 2440ft 58 Gibson VIRGINIA R I D 744m K S Station O O R Visitor Center Bartlett Park B VIRGINIA Park Headquarters CUMBERLAND Entrance for GAP Cumberland Wilderness Road TENNESSEE D Gap Campground and Tunnel Picnic Area 186 il N ra T d ek n 25E Cre E A a n l tio K r ta LA e SHAWANEE S North L b K E N T U C K Y m 0 1 2 Kilometers R u C Tiprell T E N N E S S E E E 0 1 2 Miles

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Lincoln n FER B Memorial d

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HARROGATE G Abraham

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Lincoln r D Museum e I Hiking and Campground k C N e e k bicycle trail re I E R C A llow E Ye T G tle Y G it N D R L E Trailhead Guide U I O O L F RG Pinnacle Overlook Sugar Run Picnic Area Civic Park trailhead Wilderness Road Picnic Area M a L p Ridge Trail Sugar Run Trail (lower trail) Ewing Trail Lewis Hollow Trail

L C A (to Gibson Gap, Hensley (access to Ridge Trail) (access to Ridge Trail, (access to Skylight Cave and L r TENNESSEE Y e V Settlement, Chadwell Sand Cave, and White Ridge Trail) E e W E k Gap, and White Rocks) Sugar Run trailhead Rocks) O L P L Sugar Run Trail (upper trail) L L 63 Iron Furnace (access to Ridge Trail) Chadwell Gap trailhead Wilderness Road Campground E Tennessee Road Trail Green Leaf Nature Trail A R Chadwell Gap Trail V W E (to historic pass and access Shillalah Creek trailhead (to Ridge Trail and Honey Tree Spur Nature Trail O PO IV to Tri-State Peak Trail) P Arthur WELL R Shillalah Creek Trail Hensley Settlement) Gibson Gap Trail R (to Hensley Settlement) (access to Ridge Trail) O To Tazewell, 81 , Knoxville, and To LaFollette and 75 P O Great Smoky Mountains National Park