Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
20,000 acres (Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia) operated by the U.S. National Park Service
The Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located at the border between Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, centered on the Cumberland Gap, a natural break in the Appalachian Mountains.
The park lies in parts of Bell and Harlan counties in Kentucky, Claiborne County in Tennessee, and Lee County in Virginia. The park contains the Kentucky-Virginia-Tennessee tripoint, accessible via trail.
The town of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, is located inside of the park's territory.
The Cumberland Gap Visitor Center is located on U.S. Highway 25E just southeast of the city of Middlesboro, Kentucky, and just northwest of the Cumberland Gap Tunnel and the town of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. The visitor center features a museum with interactive exhibits about the Gap's role as a transportation corridor, an auditorium that shows films about the area's cultural and natural history, a book store and the Cumberland Crafts gift shop with crafts from Appalachia.
Physical geography
The park covers 24,000 acres (9,700 ha) and is among the largest national parks in the eastern United States. As of 2010, 14,091 acres (5,702 ha) of this was designated as Recommended Wilderness. Elevation varies from a low of 1,100 feet (340 m) to a high of 3,500 feet (1,100 m).
The park runs along the Cumberland Mountains, stretching about 20 miles (32 km) with an average width of 1.6 miles (2.6 km).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Cumberland Gap National Historical Park” as 20,000 acres (Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia) operated by the U.S. National Park Service. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as 20,000 acres (Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia) operated by the U.S. National Park Service. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5193892. VIAF identifies the subject as 315526884. Authority coordinates are 36.604, -83.687. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2010.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Cumberland Gap National Historical Park”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Cumberland Gap National Historical Park primary sources, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park archive and Cumberland research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cumberland Gap National Historical Park”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Cumberland Gap National Historical Park” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.