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History · Cumberland Gap

Cumberland Gap’s post office opened in 1803, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 34 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1910.

1803first post office
1on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cumberland Gap’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cumberland Gap began

When was Cumberland Gap founded?

1803

The Cumberland Gap post office opened in 1803, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 347 in 19102020 census: 313223 years
Founding year: the first Cumberland Gap post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Cumberland Gap’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Cumberland Gap Historic District takes in 34 historic buildings.Boom and bustPeaked at 494 in 2010; 313 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1891 to 1913, drew every building in Cumberland Gap.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cumberland Gap’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cumberland Gap’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewView of Cumberland Gap, from the south: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

1 listing protects 34 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
34
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Cumberland Gap Historic District
Cumberland Gap Historic District
Districts
All 1 listings
Cumberland Gap Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1990

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Cumberland Gap, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 494

Peaked at 494 in 2010; 313 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cumberland Gap’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Cumberland Gap came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cumberland Gap.

Read it all →

The Cherokee and Shawnee Native American tribes traveled through a game trail known to the Shawnee as Athiamiowee. The tribes often fought each other and white settlers called the trail The Warriors' Path. The area that came to be known as the Cumberland Gap was a gateway on the trail through the mountains. Although many settlers had traveled through the pass and their reports had traveled back east, Thomas Walker is credited as the settler who discovered the pass. Walker was hired by the Loyal Land Company to search for a suitable site for a settlement on the western side of the mountains. It became a postal town in 1803, and was officially incorporated as a city in 1907.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cumberland Gap, 1803 to 2010

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1803Post officeThe Cumberland Gap post office opens
  3. 1862In the archiveView of Cumberland Gap, from the south
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903Born hereEarl Williams is born here
  6. 1904Born hereDave McArthur is born here
  7. 1919In the archiveAs in pioneer days, mountaineer's cabin
  8. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 21st century
  10. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 494
By decade

Cumberland Gap, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s2 items
View of Cumberland Gap, from the south1862View of Cumberland Gap, from the southView of Cumberland Gap, from the south1862View of Cumberland Gap, from the south
1910s1 item
As in pioneer days, mountaineer's cabin1919As in pioneer days, mountaineer's cabin
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today9 recent
2017-06-12 15 41 00 Panorama of Cumberland Gap on the border of Kentucky and Virginia from the junction of U.S. Route 2…20172017-06-12 15 41 00 Panorama of Cumberland Gap on the…2017-06-12 15 40 51 View of Cumberland Gap on the border of Kentucky and Virginia from the junction of U.S. Route 25E a…20172017-06-12 15 40 51 View of Cumberland Gap on the bor…2017-06-12 15 38 05 View of Cumberland Gap on the border of Kentucky and Virginia from the town of20172017-06-12 15 38 05 View of Cumberland Gap on the bor…2017-06-12 15 37 57 View of the northeast side of Cumberland Gap on the border of Kentucky and Virginia from the town of20172017-06-12 15 37 57 View of the northeast side of Cum…2017-06-12 15 37 51 View of Cumberland Gap on the border of Kentucky and Virginia from the town of20172017-06-12 15 37 51 View of Cumberland Gap on the bor…First Congress Bicycle Museum2011First Congress Bicycle MuseumPinacles P9040353 sign2010Pinacles P9040353 signEast Tennessee Crossing - Town of2008East Tennessee Crossing - Town ofCumberland Gap National Historical Park visitors center2008Cumberland Gap National Historical Park visitors cent…
On the map

Cumberland Gap on the map, 1927 to 1991

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cumberland Gap. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Cumberland Gap on the 1927 USGS mapCumberland Gap on the 1930 USGS mapCumberland Gap on the 1976 USGS mapCumberland Gap on the 1991 USGS map1927Middlesboro sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cumberland Gap.

Every building

Cumberland Gap, building by building, 1891–1913

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Cumberland Gap fire insurance map, 1891, sheet 11891Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

View of Cumberland Gap, from the south
Retake this viewView of Cumberland Gap, from the south, 1862

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cumberland Gap’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Cumberland Gap

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
E
Earl WilliamsAmerican baseball player · b. 1903
D
Dave McArthurAmerican football player · b. 1904
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Harrogate1 historic placeC+

Questions about Cumberland Gap’s history

What year was Cumberland Gap founded?

The Cumberland Gap post office opened in 1803, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Cumberland Gap?

One place: the Cumberland Gap Historic District (listed 1990).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (9), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.