From the National Register of Historic Places
Nomination Form:
This district comprises that portion of the Cumberland Gap vicinity which lies in Kentucky and is within the boundaries of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Cumberland Gap is a notch in a narrow section of Cumberland Mountain, part of the Allegheny chain at the southern corner of Kentucky. The ridge of the mountain runs generally from northeast to southwest and the Gap is a result of a block fault running perpendicular to this axis. The Gap is delineated by two peaks: to the northeast is the Pinnacle, and to the southwest is Tri-State Peak, where the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia meet.
A natural passage through the Gap runs northwest from 1350 feet at the base of the mountain in Virginia, enters Kentucky at 1650 feet in the "saddle of the Gap", then curves soutward as it descends the western slope to 1150 feet at the base of the mountain. The Pinnacle is 800 feet above the saddle at 2440 feet and the Tri-State Point is 1980 feet in elevation. Originally an Oak-Chestnut hardwood forest, the present flora is a second or third growth Oak-Hickory forest covering the slopes.
The Kentucky District extends northeast of the ridge of mountain and covers the western slope, forming a rough rectangle about 4500 feet by 3000 feet.
Significance:
Cumberland Gap has been for centuries a passageway for man,
being the only easily accessible pass through the Allegheny
Mountains. It has witnessed the movement of peoples from aboriginal
Indians to modern travelers, and has played an important role in
the westward expansion of the United States.
Prior to 1750, the primary users of this pass were Indians.
Probably following buffalo paths, these early hunters found the
route through the mountains and established a trail between the
Tennessee Valley and the rich hunting grounds of Kentucky. Due to
competition for game, different tribes began to battle for the
right to use this land, and the trail became part of the "Warriors
path".
After the discovery of Cumberland Gap by Dr. Thomas Walker in
1750, increasing numbers of white men from the Virginia and
Carolina Colonies passed through Cumberland Gap in search of new
land and good hunting, but two wars and the fear of Indian attacks
prevented large numbers of permanent settlers from going west
before 1790. In the interim, men like Daniel Boone made the area
and themselves famous by their long, perilous trips through the Gap
into the Kentucky Wilderness. In 1775, Boon blazed a trail from the
Holston River in Tennessee through Cumberland Gap to the Kentucky
River, giving the route the name of "Boone's Trace".
During the 1790's a mass of immigrants passed through Cumberland
Gap into Kentucky at the rate of nearly 100 per day. These people
were lured to the cheap lands to the west, and began pouring
through the Gap as soon as western travel seemed safe. But the
Gap's gained importance began to decline as more people used the
easier route through the Ohio Valley. Westward travel through the
Gap nearly ceased by 1800. During the decade of heavy use, the
trail through the mountains was known as "The Wilderness Road".
Through the nineteenth century, Cumberland Gap was a locally
important commercial passage, used by stockmen and merchants more
than immigrants. Only during the Civil War did the Gap again come
to national prominence. Judged an important strategic pass by both
sides, it was strongly fortified and held alternately by the Union
and Confederate Armies, but never was the scene of a major battle.
Since the Civil War, Cumberland Gap has continued to serve as a
passage, though part of the Wilderness Road which gave it its
original importance has been obliterated. The road has been
improved, graded and widened continually during this century, as
Cumberland Gap has continued its function as a passageway for
man.
U. S. Highway 25-E and other modern conveniences has caused the
Gap to lose some of its historical flavor, but it is still the
scene of one of the great migrations to the west. Loss of the Gap
and its remaining historic structures would mean the loss of an
area that effectively tells of the great trans-allegheny migration
of 1775-1800."