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The Hensley family settled atop Brush Mountain in 1904, forgoing settled areas to create their own self-sufficient lifestyle. Their settlement in rural Appalachia continued without electricity, indoor plumbing, roads, or any modernconveniences until the last inhabitant left in 1951. The Hensley family shared their settlement with the Gibbons family; the two families became intertwined with one another.

The Hensley family settled on a high plateau straddling Kentucky and Virginia, where they lived 18th-century lifestyles in isolation for the first 50 years of the 20th century. The settlement began in May 1903, when “Gabby Burt” Hensley purchased 500 acres of Cumberland Mountain land and subdivided it into 16 parts for his principal heirs. Gabby Burt’s daughter, Nicy Ann, and her husband, Sherman Hensley, bought 38 more acres and moved up Brush Mountain in December 1903. The families built a schoolhouse in which the Hensley and Gibbon children received their formal education. At its peak, the school housed about 25 students. On the weekends, the schoolhouse doubled as a church. Whenthe school closed in 1947, only four students remained.

Almost everything the Hensleys needed to survive was made on Brush Mountain. They were amazingly self-sufficient and seldom had any reason to leave their private settlement. After everyone else deserted the Hensley settlement, Sherman Hensley lived alone there for two years. In 1951, Sherman, age 70, left the mountain the way he had found it 50 years earlier: with no electricity, no roads, and no people.

Today, the Hensley Settlement stands as part of the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. Approximately 25 of the original buildings have been restored, and the surrounding land has been returned to the picturesque farming and pasture scene of its initial appearance. It is a truly unique place to visit in Kentucky that transports its visitors back to a simpler time.

What was the goal of the families who developed the Hensley Settlement?

What was the “pioneer spirit,” and how was it important in the development of our state and country?

What makes the Hensley Settlement unique?

What was the name of the schoolhouse? What purposes did it serve at the settlement?

What were the relationships between the families inhabiting the settlement?

How were the Hensleys and the Gibbonses self-sufficient?

Stage a dramatic production of the pioneer way of life at the Hensley Settlement. Be sure to include historical facts in the production.

When the men of the Hensley Settlement found women to marry outside of the settlement, they had to convince them to join in their isolated lifestyle. Write a speech convincing someone to move from modern civilization to the pioneer way of life at the Hensley Settlement. Research the Hensley Settlement, and include specific facts about it that might attract outsiders.

Throughout history, America has moved from a rural way of a life to an urban one. Examine how and why this shift has occurred.

There are many reasons why people left the Hensley Settlement, one of which was the lure of the coal industry. In Eastern Kentucky, the years from 1900-1941 were considered “The Golden Age of Coal Mining.” Research the economy of Eastern Kentucky during this time and the role of coal.

Use Adam Jones’s photographs of the Cumberland Gap area (or other images from Hensley Settlement available online) to explore the elements of art through photography. Use the elements of art (line, shape, color, form, and texture), and the principles of design (repetition, pattern, balance, emphasis, contrast, rhythm, proportion, and movement) to evaluate each photograph. Using what they have learned about the elements of art from the photographs, students will create their own works of art.