U.S. Route 25E
U. S. Route 25E is the eastern branch of U. S. Route 25 from Newport, where US25 splits into US 25E and US 25W, to North Corbin, where the two highways rejoin. The road, continues as US 25E for roughly 2 miles until it joins Interstate 75 in North Corbin, all of US-25E in Tennessee is now the East Tennessee Crossings Byway, a National Scenic Byway. A portion of US 25E in Tennessee is designated as Appalachian Development Corridor S, the corridor follows US 25E between I-81 in White Pine and State Route 63 in Harrogate. US 25E has been included in the U. S. Highway System since the inception in 1926. Northbound US25 and westbound US70 leave Newport concurrent with one another, at an intersection west of town, US25 splits into two highways, US 25E, which heads north from this point, and US 25W, which continues west along US70. US 25E crosses over Douglas Lake south of Baneberry, between White Pine and Witt, the highway has an interchange with Interstate 81. North of the Interstate, the road out to four lanes.
US 25E intersects US 11E east of Morristown, near Bean Station, US 25E joins US 11W. The two roads split 3 miles west of Bean Station, and US 25E continues northwest to Tazewell, northwest of Tazewell, the road bridges the Powell River, and passes through Harrogate. In the town of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, US 25E serves as the terminus of US58. US 25E used that highway en route to the Cumberland Gap prior to 1996, however, it now uses a new highway leading to the Cumberland Gap Tunnel, US 25E passes through the tunnel, emerging on the other side in Kentucky. US-25E remains a divided highway for its entire extent in Kentucky. Upon departing the tunnel, the road heads west to the town of Middlesboro, Kentucky, US-25E turns north at Middlesboro toward Pineville, the county seat of Bell County. In Pineville, the route is the terminus of US-119. US-25E departs Pineville and heads northwest, indirectly serving Tinsley via KY92, crossing into Knox County, the route makes an S-shaped curve, dipping south turning back northwest as it approaches Barbourville.
After serving the east side of Barbourville, the passes near Heidrick. Between Baileys Switch and Gray, US-25E gradually turns more east–west, after running through Gray, the route serves as the northern terminus of KY3041. The road reunites with US-25W north of Corbin, and the unsuffixed US-25 continues to points north, the US-25E designation continues west to Interstate 75, where it ends at Exit 29
PH
In chemistry, pH is a numeric scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. It is approximately the negative of the base 10 logarithm of the concentration, measured in units of moles per liter. More precisely it is the negative of the logarithm to base 10 of the activity of the hydrogen ion, solutions with a pH less than 7 are acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic. Pure water is neutral, at pH7, being neither an acid nor a base, contrary to popular belief, the pH value can be less than 0 or greater than 14 for very strong acids and bases respectively. The pH scale is traceable to a set of standard solutions whose pH is established by international agreement, the pH of aqueous solutions can be measured with a glass electrode and a pH meter, or an indicator. In the first papers, the notation had the H as a subscript to the p, as so. The exact meaning of the p in pH is disputed, but according to the Carlsberg Foundation and it has been suggested that the p stands for the German Potenz, others refer to French puissance.
Another suggestion is that the p stands for the Latin terms pondus hydrogenii, potentia hydrogenii and it is suggested that Sørensen used the letters p and q simply to label the test solution and the reference solution. Currently in chemistry, the p stands for decimal cologarithm of, PH is defined as the decimal logarithm of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion activity, aH+, in a solution. P H = − log 10 = log 10 For example and this definition was adopted because ion-selective electrodes, which are used to measure pH, respond to activity. For H+ number of electrons transferred is one and it follows that electrode potential is proportional to pH when pH is defined in terms of activity. The reference electrode may be a silver chloride electrode or a calomel electrode, the hydrogen-ion selective electrode is a standard hydrogen electrode. Reference electrode | concentrated solution of KCl || test solution | H2 | Pt Firstly, the cell is filled with a solution of hydrogen ion activity. Then the emf, EX, of the cell containing the solution of unknown pH is measured.
PH = pH + E S − E X z The difference between the two measured emf values is proportional to pH and this method of calibration avoids the need to know the standard electrode potential. The proportionality constant, 1/z is ideally equal to 12.303 R T / F the Nernstian slope, to apply this process in practice, a glass electrode is used rather than the cumbersome hydrogen electrode. A combined glass electrode has a reference electrode. It is calibrated against buffer solutions of hydrogen ion activity
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. A Democrat, he won a record four presidential elections and emerged as a figure in world events during the mid-20th century. He directed the United States government during most of the Great Depression and he is often rated by scholars as one of the three greatest U. S. Presidents, along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Roosevelt was born in 1882 to an old, prominent Dutch family from Dutchess County and he attended the elite educational institutions of Groton School, Harvard College, and Columbia Law School. At age 23 in 1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt, and he entered politics in 1910, serving in the New York State Senate, and as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson. In 1920, Roosevelt was presidential candidate James M. Coxs running mate and he was in office from 1929 to 1933 and served as a reform governor, promoting the enactment of programs to combat the depression besetting the United States at the time.
In the 1932 presidential election, Roosevelt defeated incumbent Republican president Herbert Hoover in a landslide to win the presidency, Roosevelt took office while in the United States was in the midst of the worst economic crisis in its history. Energized by his victory over polio, FDR relied on his persistent optimism and activism to renew the national spirit. He created numerous programs to support the unemployed and farmers, and to labor union growth while more closely regulating business. His support for the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 added to his popularity, the economy improved rapidly from 1933–37, but relapsed into a deep recession in 1937–38. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the Supreme Court, when the war began and unemployment ended, conservatives in Congress repealed the two major relief programs, the WPA and CCC. However, they kept most of the regulations on business, along with several smaller programs, major surviving programs include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Wagner Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Social Security.
His goal was to make America the Arsenal of Democracy, which would supply munitions to the Allies, in March 1941, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to Britain and China. He supervised the mobilization of the U. S. economy to support the war effort, as an active military leader, Roosevelt implemented a war strategy on two fronts that ended in the defeat of the Axis Powers and initiate the development of the worlds first atomic bomb. His work influenced the creation of the United Nations. Roosevelts physical health declined during the war years, and he died 11 weeks into his fourth term. One of the oldest Dutch families in New York State, the Roosevelts distinguished themselves in other than politics. One ancestor, Isaac Roosevelt, had served with the New York militia during the American Revolution, Roosevelt attended events of the New York society Sons of the American Revolution, and joined the organization while he was president
National Park Service
It was created on August 25,1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. As of 2014, the NPS employs 21,651 employees who oversee 417 units, the National Park Service celebrated its centennial in 2016. National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior, the movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather, as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior and they wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service, Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS.
On March 3,1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933, the act would allow the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. It wasnt until that summer when the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Roosevelt agreed and issued two Executive orders to make it happen. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service, the demand for parks after the end of the World War II had left the parks overburdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he began Mission 66, New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery, Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and National Recreation Areas. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has managed each of the United States national parks, Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States.
In 1872, there was no government to manage it. Yosemite National Park began as a park, the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the state of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was returned to federal ownership, at first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the staff was replaced by the U. S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Mather petitioned the government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. Later, the agency was given authority over other protected areas, the National Park System includes all properties managed by the National Park Service
Tennessee
Tennessee is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th largest and the 17th most populous of the 50 United States, Tennessee is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, Tennessees capital and second largest city is Nashville, which has a population of 654,610. Memphis is the states largest city, with a population of 655,770, the state of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians. What is now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1,1796. Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, occupied by Union forces from 1862, it was the first state to be readmitted to the Union at the end of the war.
Tennessee furnished more soldiers for the Confederate Army than any other state besides Virginia and this sharply reduced competition in politics in the state until after passage of civil rights legislation in the mid-20th century. This city was established to house the Manhattan Projects uranium enrichment facilities, helping to build the worlds first atomic bomb, Tennessees major industries include agriculture and tourism. Poultry and cattle are the primary agricultural products, and major manufacturing exports include chemicals, transportation equipment. In the early 18th century, British traders encountered a Cherokee town named Tanasi in present-day Monroe County, the town was located on a river of the same name, and appears on maps as early as 1725. The meaning and origin of the word are uncertain, some accounts suggest it is a Cherokee modification of an earlier Yuchi word. It has been said to mean meeting place, winding river, according to ethnographer James Mooney, the name can not be analyzed and its meaning is lost.
The modern spelling, Tennessee, is attributed to James Glen, the governor of South Carolina, the spelling was popularized by the publication of Henry Timberlakes Draught of the Cherokee Country in 1765. In 1788, North Carolina created Tennessee County, the county to be established in what is now Middle Tennessee. When a constitutional convention met in 1796 to organize a new out of the Southwest Territory. Other sources differ on the origin of the nickname, according to the Columbia Encyclopedia. Tennessee ties Missouri as the state bordering the most other states, the state is trisected by the Tennessee River. The highest point in the state is Clingmans Dome at 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome, which lies on Tennessees eastern border, is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail, and is the third highest peak in the United States east of the Mississippi River
Wilderness Road
The Wilderness Road was the principal route used by settlers for more than five years to reach Kentucky from the East. In 1775, Daniel Boone blazed a trail for the Transylvania Company from Fort Chiswell in Virginia through the Cumberland Gap into central Kentucky and it was lengthened, following Native American trails, to reach the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville. The Wilderness Road was steep, narrow, and it could only be traversed on foot or horseback, despite the adverse conditions, thousands of people used it. In 1792, the new Kentucky legislature provided money to upgrade the road, in 1796, an improved all-weather road was opened for wagon and carriage travel. The road was abandoned around 1840, although modern highways follow much of its route, the first European explorers of the southern Appalachian Mountains were Spanish. Hernando de Soto and his troops traversed the region in 1540 and 1541 searching for gold and he was followed by several other Spanish expeditions. The first recorded English explorations of the mountains were those of Abraham Wood, Wood sent exploring parties into the mountains.
The Batts-Fallam expedition reached the New River Valley in 1671, in 1673, Wood sent Gabriel Arthur and James Needham to the Overhill Cherokee of modern Tennessee. The purpose was to try to direct contact with the Cherokee for trade. The expedition did reach the Overhill Cherokee area, but Needham was killed on the return, Gabriel Arthur was almost killed, but was rescued by being adopted by a Cherokee chief. For his own safety, Arthur was sent with one of the raiding parties. For about a year, he traveled with the Cherokee, throughout the Appalachians and he was probably the first European to visit modern West Virginia and cross the Cumberland Gap. In 1750, Dr. Thomas Walker, an investor in the Loyal Land Company, with five companions, made an exploration through the Cumberland Gap. The Loyal Land Company settled people in southwest Virginia, but not Kentucky, in 1769, Virginia longhunter and explorer Joseph Martin made the first of several forays into the region. Acting as an agent for Dr. Martin and his men built the earliest westernmost frontier fort at present-day Rose Hill, that year Indians chased off Martin and his men, who returned to Albemarle County.
Martin returned six years to rebuild the fort, and a few months became a agent for Richard Hendersons Transylvania Company. In 1774, Richard Henderson, a judge from North Carolina, the men hoped to purchase land from the Cherokees on the Kentucky side of the Appalachian Mountains and establish a British proprietary colony. Henderson hired Daniel Boone, a hunter who had explored Kentucky
Kentucky General Assembly
The Kentucky General Assembly, called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U. S. state of Kentucky. The General Assembly meets annually in the capitol building in Frankfort, Kentucky. In even-numbered years, sessions may not last more than 60 legislative days, in odd-numbered years, sessions may not last more than 30 legislative days, and cannot extend beyond March 30. Special sessions may be called by the Governor of Kentucky at any time for any duration, the first meeting of the General Assembly occurred in 1792, shortly after Kentucky was granted statehood. Legislators convened in Lexington, the temporary capital. Among the first orders of business was choosing a permanent state capital, after women gained suffrage in Kentucky, Mary Elliott Flanery was elected to the Kentucky House of Representative from the 89th District representing Boyd County, Kentucky. When Flanery took her seat in January 1922, she was the first female legislator elected in Kentucky. Operation Boptrot lead to the conviction of more than a dozen legislators between 1992 and 1995, the investigation led to reform legislation being passed in 1993.
Officially, Kentucky remained neutral during the Civil War, the majority of the General Assembly had strong Union sympathies. A group of Confederate sympathizers met in Russellville to establish a Confederate government for the state, the group decided to establish the Confederate state capital in Bowling Green, but never successfully displaced the elected General Assembly in Frankfort. The General Assembly played a role in the disputed gubernatorial election of 1900. Initial vote tallies had Republican William S. Taylor leading Democrat William Goebel by a scant 2,383 votes, the General Assembly, wielded the final authority in election disputes. With a majority in both houses, the Democrats attempted to invalidate enough votes to give the election to Goebel, during the contentious days that followed, an unidentified assassin shot Goebel as he approached the state capitol. As Goebel hovered on the brink of death, chaos ensued in Frankfort, the Republican minority naturally heeded the call and headed to London.
Democrats predictably resisted the call, many retiring to Louisville instead, both factions claimed authority, but the Republicans were too few in number to muster a quorum. The General Assembly is bicameral, consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives, the House and Senate chambers are on opposite ends of the third floor of the capitol building, and legislators have offices in the nearby Capitol Annex building. Section 33 of the Kentucky Constitution requires that the General Assembly divide the state into 38 Senate and 100 House districts, districts are required to be as nearly equal in population as possible. Districts can be formed by joining more than one county, districts must be reviewed every 10 years and be re-divided if necessary
Cumberland Gap Tunnel
The Cumberland Gap Tunnel is a tunnel that carries U. S. Route 25E under Cumberland Gap National Historical Park near the intersection of Kentucky and Virginia. According to United States Geological Survey maps of the area, the tunnel does not enter Virginia. It is one of two mountain vehicular tunnels in the United States that cross a state line, the other being the East River Mountain Tunnel on Interstate 77 between Virginia and West Virginia. The tunnels consist of two tubes, each 4,600 feet long, each tube carries two lanes of traffic. An illumination zone is included at each portal to allow drivers vision to adjust to the light level in the tunnel. The speed limit in the tunnel is 45 mph, lane changes are prohibited, the overall construction cost, including the four-lane approach roads at both portals, was $280 million. The tunnel replaced a 2. 3-mile stretch of U. S, even in the late 1970s, road traffic through the park had increased to the point of being unmanageable, and the project to replace the surface road began in 1980.
However, construction did not begin until 1991, early on, it was decided that widening the existing surface road to four lanes would adversely affect the historically sensitive areas in the park, making a tunnel the only viable choice. As a part of the plan, the road through Cumberland Gap has been removed and restored as a wagon path similar to that used by early 19th-century travelers. While the project was in the phases and Tennessee both began widening their portions of U. S. 25E leading to Cumberland Gap to four lanes. Construction inspection, project management and engineering services were administered by Vaughn & Melton Consulting Engineers, the first step in construction was the boring of a pilot tunnel underneath the mountain, which revealed some unexpected construction challenges. The boring revealed underground springs and streams that would result in leakage of 450 gallons per minute of water into the tunnel, to eliminate leakage into the tunnel, the tubes were lined with a thick PVC layer.
Construction of the actual tubes began on June 21,1991, excavation continued simultaneously from both sides, and the tunnels were joined on July 9,1992. The tunnels opened to traffic on October 18,1996, the southbound tunnel was briefly closed in 2006-2007 for construction. In 2012, the tunnel was closed to replace some of the crushed limestone road base with granite. Nada Tunnel Federal Highway Administration Roads to the Future National Park Service
American Civil War
The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy.
The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America.
Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
Eastern United States
It is geographically diverse, spanning the Northeast and Southeast as well as the eastern part of the Central United States. In 2011 the 26 states east of the Mississippi had an population of 179,948,346 or 58. 28% of the total U. S. population of 308,745,358. The Southern United States constitutes a region in the south-eastern. In the last few decades, the Southern US has been attracting internal and international migrants, the American South is among the fastest-growing areas in the United States. In one of the earliest English settlements in the New World, English Pilgrims from Europe first settled in New England in 1620, New England produced the first examples of American literature and philosophy and was home to the beginnings of free public education. In the 19th century, it played a prominent role in the movement to abolish slavery in the United States and it was the first region of the United States to be transformed by the Industrial Revolution. The Midwestern United States is one of the four regions within the United States that are recognized by the United States Census Bureau.
The region consists of seven states in the central and inland northeastern US, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, a 2006 Census Bureau estimate put the population at 66,217,736. Both the geographic center of the contiguous U. S. the United States Census Bureau divides this region into the East North Central States and the West North Central States. Chicago is the largest city in the region, followed by Indianapolis, chicago has the largest metropolitan statistical area, followed by Detroit, and Minneapolis – Saint Paul. Marie, Michigan is the oldest city in the region, having been founded by French missionaries, the term Midwest has been in common use for over 100 years. Another term sometimes applied to the general region is the heartland. Other designations for the region have fallen into disuse, such as the Northwest or Old Northwest, since the book Middletown appeared in 1929, sociologists have often used Midwestern cities as typical of the entire nation. The region has a higher ratio than the Northeast, the West.
Four of the associated with the Midwestern United States are traditionally referred to as belonging to the Great Plains region. However, in recent years they are included in the Midwestern region. The following is a list of the 24 largest cities in the East by population, East Coast of the United States Eastern Canada Territories of the United States on stamps
National Historic Site (United States)
A National Historic Site is a protected area of national historic significance in the United States. An NHS usually contains a historical feature directly associated with its subject. As of 2015, there are 50 NHPs and 90 NHSs, most NHPs and NHSs are managed by the National Park Service. Some federally designated sites are owned by local authorities or privately owned, one property, Grey Towers National Historic Site, is managed by the U. S. Forest Service. As of October 15,1966, all areas, including NHPs and NHSs. There are about 80,000 NRHP sites, the majority of which are neither owned nor managed by the NPS. Of these, about 2,500 have been designated at the highest status as National Historic Landmark sites, National Historic Sites are generally federally owned and administered properties, though some remain under private or local government ownership. There are currently 90 NHSs, of which 78 are official NPS units,11 are NPS affiliated areas, one is managed by the US Forest Service, and one by the Bureau of Land Management.
Derived from the Historic Sites Act of 1935, a number of NHSs were established by United States Secretaries of the Interior, in 1937, the first NHS was created in Salem, Massachusetts in order to preserve and interpret the maritime history of New England and the United States. There is one International Historic Site in the US park system, the title, given to the site of the first permanent French settlement in America, recognizes the influence that has had on both Canada and the United States. The NPS does not distinguish among these designations in terms of their preservation or management policies, in the United States, sites are historic, while parks are historical. The NPS explains that a site can be intrinsically historic, while a park is a legal invention. As such, a park is not itself historic, but can be called historical when it contains historic resources and it is the resources which are historic, not the park. Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park was formally established in 1998 by the United States and Canada, the park comprises Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Washington and Alaska, and Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site in British Columbia.
It was this trail which so many prospectors took in hopes of making their fortunes in the Klondike River district of Yukon, list of World Heritage Sites in the Americas Designation of National Park System Units
Cumberland River
The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The 688-mile-long river drains almost 18,000 square miles of southern Kentucky, the river flows generally west from a source in the Appalachian Mountains to its confluence with the Ohio River near Paducah and the mouth of the Tennessee River. Major tributaries include the Obey, Caney Fork, although the Cumberland River basin is predominantly rural, there are some large cities on the river, including Nashville and Clarksville, both in Tennessee. In addition, the system has been extensively developed for flood control. Its headwaters are three separate forks that begin in Kentucky and converge in its Harlan County, Martins Fork starts in Hensley Settlement on Brush Mountain in Bell County and snakes its way north through the mountains to Baxter. Clover Fork starts on Black Mountain in Holmes Mill, near the Virginia border, poor Fork begins as a small stream on Pine Mountain in Letcher County near Flat Gap, Virginia. It flows southwest in parallel with Pine Mountain until it merges with the two forks in Baxter.
From there, the river continues flowing west through the mountains of Kentucky. The 68-foot falls is one of the largest waterfalls in the southeastern United States and is one of the few places in the Western Hemisphere where a moonbow can be seen. Beyond Cumberland Falls, the river turns abruptly west once again and continues to grow as it converges with other creeks and it receives the Laurel and Rockcastle Rivers from the northeast and the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River from the south. From here it flows into the man-made Lake Cumberland, formed by Wolf Creek Dam, the more than 100-mile reservoir is one of the largest artificial lakes in the eastern US. Near Celina, the river crosses south into Tennessee, where it is joined by the Obey River, northeast of Nashville, the river is dammed twice more, forming Cordell Hull Lake and Old Hickory Lake. After flowing through Nashville and picking up the Stones River, the river is dammed to form Cheatham Lake, the river flows north and merges with the Ohio River at Smithland, northeast of Paducah.
The explorer Thomas Walker of Virginia in 1758 named the river, the Cumberland River was called Wasioto by the Shawnee Native Americans, who lived in this area. French traders called it the Riviere des Chaouanons, or river of the Shawnee for this association, the river was known as the Shawnee River for years after Walkers trip. Important first as a passage for hunters and settlers, the Cumberland River supported riverboat trade, villages and cities were located at landing points along its banks. Through the middle of the 19th century, settlers depended on rivers as the transportation routes for trading. In more recent history, a number of floods have struck various regions that the river flows through
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park travel guide from Wikivoyage
