Cumberland Gap

Home » Appalachian Mountain Gaps » Cumberland Gap

Cumberland Gap – Key Passageway Across the Appalachian Mountains

Cumberland Gap, a prominent natural pass in the Cumberland Mountains of the Appalachian range, has long served as a crucial gateway for traversing the formidable mountain barrier between the eastern United States and the western frontier.

Geography

Located at the tripoint where Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee converge, its coordinates are 36°36′15″N 83°40′25″W, with an elevation of 1,631 feet (497 meters). Geographically, it forms a V-shaped notch, with the base about 300 feet above the surrounding valleys, carved by ancient streams eroding the ridge. The north side rises to Pinnacle Overlook at 2,505 feet, while the south ascends 600 feet. This relatively low saddle connects the Great Valley of Virginia (including the Shenandoah) to Powell Valley in Tennessee and the Cumberland Plateau in Kentucky, integrating with regional routes like the Great Warriors’ Path and later the Wilderness Road, facilitating northward-southward and eastward-westward movement across the Appalachians.

Early History

Indigenous peoples, such as the Cherokee and Shawnee, first used the gap as a foot trail along the Great Warriors’ Path for hunting, trade, and conflict. European awareness grew after Dr. Thomas Walker’s 1750 expedition named it for the Duke of Cumberland. In 1775, frontiersman Daniel Boone, employed by the Transylvania Company, led 30 ax-men to blaze and widen the trail starting March 10, creating the 200-mile Wilderness Road from Blockhouse in Virginia through the gap to Kentucky’s interior. This path enabled mass migration, with estimates of 200,000 to 300,000 pioneers and immigrants—primarily Scots-Irish and Germans—crossing before 1810, seeking land in Kentucky and beyond. By the 1790s, it was upgraded for wagons, becoming a turnpike by 1796, and saw Civil War battles in 1862-1863.

Railroads

Rail development in the late 19th century sought to exploit the gap’s strategic position for Appalachian coal transport. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) initiated construction in 1888, building a line from Corbin, Kentucky, to Middlesboro near the gap, completing the 3,741-foot Cumberland Mountain Tunnel under Poor Valley Ridge in 1889 to bypass the gap’s challenging terrain. This engineering feat, part of the Cumberland Valley Division, facilitated freight and passenger service, connecting to the Southern Railway at Cumberland Gap. Nearby, the Morristown & Cumberland Gap Railroad began in 1891 but was short-lived.

Cumberland Gap Today

Today, within Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (established 1940), no active railroads pass directly through the gap, as lines bypassed it for efficiency. CSX Transportation, successor to L&N since 1986, operates nearby freight lines hauling coal and goods through the Cumberland Mountain Tunnel. The R.J. Corman Railroad’s Knoxville & Cumberland Gap line serves local industries up to Tazewell, Tennessee, interchanging with Norfolk Southern. For highways, U.S. Route 25E traverses the 4,600-foot Cumberland Gap Tunnel, a dual-bore vehicular tunnel opened in 1996 at a cost of $280 million, carrying 32,000 vehicles daily under the park to preserve the historic surface. The original Wilderness Road trail has been restored for hiking, symbolizing the gap’s enduring legacy as a bridge between eras.

Unsuccessful Railroads

Cincinnati, Cumberland Gap, and Charleston Railroad

Chartered in the 1850s, this railroad aimed to link Charleston, South Carolina, to Cincinnati, Ohio, via a route through Morristown, Tennessee, and Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. Construction began with grading a bed between Morristown and the French Broad River, targeting the gap for its strategic low-elevation passage. However, the project was interrupted by the Civil War and never resumed, leaving only partial earthworks.

Virginia & Kentucky Railroad

Planned in the pre-Civil War era (around the 1850s), this line was projected from Abingdon, Virginia, westward to Cumberland Gap to access coalfields and connect to Kentucky routes. It involved significant manual labor, including the “Big Cut” excavation near Moccasin Gap (a nearby passage), but no tracks were laid. The project failed due to incomplete construction and was abandoned, with remnants later reused by successors.

Bristol Coal & Iron Narrow Gauge Railroad

Chartered in 1876, this narrow-gauge line intended to build from Bristol, Virginia, toward Big Stone Gap and Cumberland Gap, utilizing the unfinished grading from the Virginia & Kentucky Railroad to haul coal. No construction was completed, leading to reorganization in 1882 as the South Atlantic & Ohio Railroad. Financial shortfalls were the primary reason for failure.

Morristown and Cumberland Gap Railroad

Incorporated in 1890, this railroad revived earlier plans to connect Morristown, Tennessee, to Cumberland Gap via Corryton (originally Floyd or Carrollton), spanning about 40 miles as part of a larger network to Louisville and beyond. It completed the line to Corryton in 1891 but fell short of the gap (44 miles away) due to insolvency. A receiver was appointed in 1891, leading to foreclosure in 1895 and reorganization as the Carolina and Cumberland Gap Railway, which Southern Railway acquired in 1898.

Knoxville, Cumberland Gap & Lexington Railroad

Chartered in the early 1850s by Tennessee, this line planned to extend from Knoxville through Cumberland Gap to Lexington, Kentucky, to tap into regional trade. It advanced only to the charter stage with no construction, overshadowed by competing projects and ultimately abandoned.

These failures highlight the era’s challenges: high costs of mountain engineering, economic panics (e.g., 1873), and the Civil War’s disruptions. While unsuccessful, their partial works influenced later lines like the L&N and Southern Railway, which bypassed the gap with tunnels for efficiency.

For More Information – Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the history and operation of the Appalachian Railroads. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Appalachian-Railroads.org. Much of the collective railroad history data points on this website are verified across multiple sources.

Contact Us

Would enjoy hearing from you if you have questions, suggestions, edits, or content that you are willing to share. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have similar interests in the railroads or model railroading.

Go back

Your message has been sent

3Cs Websites

Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org