Cumberland Gap Crater Investigation Short Film

[Music] [Music] Middlesboro Kentucky a small town of just over 9,000 is not your average town quaint and nestled away from any major developments the town of Middlesboro sits inside something well out of this world a meteor approximately 3 miles wide slammed into the earth an estimated 300 million years ago there are only two towns known to be built inside of a proven crater the one mistake that local residents inside the crater tend to make is that the crater itself also formed the more popular and historic mountain pass area known as the Cumberland Gap i sat down with Pam Eddy the director of operations at the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park located right outside of Middlesboro was founded in 1890 founder no of the craters existence the US Geological Survey that identified the impact basin in 1962 so the gap the Cumberland Gap itself was established in what year well I don't know that anybody can give you an exact year because it was centuries and actually millennia of forces geologic forces and weathering in erosion all working together to come up to what we have to it started with Pangaea and how the African plate in the American plates kind of pushed against each other and the mountains are roads here and they were much larger than the Rockies at one time and three yards of time these were and soften and during that time there were streams we feel like that actually we're working to break down certain areas of the mountains and that's what we believe the gap came from is actually streamed at a way for published centuries to create that not now the National Park Service itself is based here in the comic Fe National Park how long have they been living it was actually dedicated in 1959 and then Vice President Richard Nixon came to be part of the festivities and it was the culmination of years of dreams of people to commemorate this historic place so as you can see behind us we've we've got a beautiful mural names like Daniel Boone dead have been brought up quite often with this area what is his significance and do you think that him and the people that followed him knew about the crater I don't know if they knew a name to put on any any place that was not going to give them something when you are a person that is looking to create your life you remember and native things that are going to help you that the Cumberland Gap was the doorway through the mountains also the narrows was the back door if you will of this Cumberland Mountain Plateau right in the middle of that is the crater which allowed them to have an easier route from Cumberland Mountain to the Pine Mountain however it was swampy he was very swampy and a lot has been done by Arthur to change that but I don't know they probably never thought of a crater or anything they were thinking was my easiest route to get to the promised land which was the best region in Kentucky so speaking of Kentucky in Middlesboro the local community has favored the view that may have gotten a little bit construed over time that the meteor itself created the gap you would spoke about rivers I know about the Yellow Creek so you guys have the point of view that the Yellow Creek and erosion was was actually the part that created the kanima and the crater is a different part that correct it is but you have to look at things holistically too because it's just like a puzzle you have to have every piece for it to fit together and create that beautiful picture that you see so the crater did not have an in as far as we know that it was after the mountains rose up because you can see it or the map but we also know that gap formed for a time but did not get all the way to the depth of like that we're at right now so you have to look at things in steps and so the creator the crater who knows if it was before or after the gap is being formed by the stream that's right so crater town as Middlesboro calls themselves they they used the fact that they're built inside of a crater kind of as their claim to fame does the National Park actually have something specific that they really use this kind of their calling card well we do it's the history of not only just the people like them and people that create an America you've got the ancestor of Abraham Lincoln they came clear here you've got an ancestor of stephen f austin you started texas our calling card is the people are it's the people the people that make this place important in American history but it's not only the names that are known as 102,000 Ames apartment like african-american slaves that were fought through the help make Kentucky settled through it touches both the famous and the infamous it touches people that are known those that are or will never be remembered well sir the crater the gap the people eating the people that were here during the Civil War the people at the hands like somewhat this is truly a land of legend you [Music]

Channel: Janson Brown Productions

Views: 1,710

Rating: 4.7241378 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: gDbLVmbzOL8

Length: 6min 38sec (398 seconds)

Published: Thu May 24 2018