Holston River
| Holston River | |
|---|---|
| File:North Fork Holston River.jpg The North Fork of the Holston River near Weber City, Virginia. | |
| File:Holstonrivermap.png | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia, Tennessee |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | North Fork Holston River |
| • location | Bland County, Virginia |
| • coordinates | 37°03′51″N 81°16′15″W / 37.06417°N 81.27083°W[1] |
| • elevation | 2,880 ft (880 m) |
| 2nd source | South Fork Holston River |
| • location | Smyth County, Virginia |
| • coordinates | 36°46′11″N 81°22′04″W / 36.76972°N 81.36778°W[2] |
| • elevation | 2,900 ft (880 m) |
| 3rd source | |
| • location | Kingsport, Tennessee |
| • coordinates | 36°32′51″N 82°36′44″W / 36.54750°N 82.61222°W[3] |
| • elevation | 1,158 ft (353 m) |
| Mouth | Tennessee River |
• location | Knoxville, Tennessee |
• coordinates | 35°57′33″N 83°51′0″W / 35.95917°N 83.85000°W[3] |
• elevation | 814 ft (248 m)[3] |
| Length | 136 mi (219 km)[3] |
| Basin size | 3,776 sq mi (9,780 km2)[4] |
| Discharge | |
| • location | J. Will Taylor Bridge (Hwy. 70) near Knoxville, Tennessee, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) above the mouth(mean for water years 1931–1975, 1979-1983)[5] |
| • average | 4,759 cu ft/s (134.8 m3/s)(mean for water years 1931–1975, 1979-1983)[5] |
| • minimum | 44 cu ft/s (1.2 m3/s)December 1941[5] |
| • maximum | 62,900 cu ft/s (1,780 m3/s)March 1935[5] |
| Basin features | |
| River system | Tennessee → Ohio → Mississippi |
The Holston River is a 136-mile (219 km) river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, and northwestern North Carolina. The Holston's confluence with the French Broad River at Knoxville marks the beginning of the Tennessee River.
History
Maps by early French explorers in this area identified what is now known as the Holston River as the "Cherokee River", after the tribe they encountered. The United States settlers and army fought with the Cherokee over land in Tennessee, North Carolina, and further South into Georgia and Alabama. In the 1830s the government forced the Cherokee out on the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), under the authority of the Indian Removal Act passed by Congress in 1830. Early Tennessee historian and Tennessee Supreme Court Justice John Haywood cites in his 1823 book "The civil and political history of the state of Tennessee from its earliest settlement up to the year 1796, including the boundaries of the state" that the Holston River was identified and named on earlier produced French maps as the "Cherokee River".[6] British colonists later named the Holston River after pioneer Stephen Holstein, a European-American settler who built a cabin in 1746 on the upper reaches of the river.[7] Similarly, Holston Mountain was named after the Holston River.
Course
The North Fork flows 138 miles (222 km) southwest from Sharon Springs in Bland County, Virginia. The Middle Fork flows 56.5 miles (90.9 km) from near the western border of Wythe County, Virginia, joining the South Fork in Washington County, Virginia, southeast of Abingdon. The South Fork rises near Sugar Grove in Smyth County and flows 112 miles (180 km) southwest to join the North Fork at Kingsport.[8] The Watauga River, a tributary of the South Fork Holston, flows 78.5 miles (126.3 km) westward from Watauga County, North Carolina.
River modifications
The Holston River valley has been greatly developed for electrical power generation, both with hydroelectric dams and coal-fired steam plants. In the upper reaches, some of these plants are controlled by private interests; in the downstream portion, they are owned by the United States Government's Tennessee Valley Authority. The main stem of the Holston is impounded by the Tennessee Valley Authority's Cherokee Dam near Jefferson City, Tennessee, forming Cherokee Lake. Five other dams, also managed by TVA, impound the Holston's headwater streams: Watauga Dam and Wilbur Dam on the Watauga River, and Boone Dam, Fort Patrick Henry Dam, and South Holston Dam on the South Fork Holston River. Among the dams and associated reservoirs on the South Fork Holston River are Boone Dam and Boone Lake, named for the explorer Daniel Boone; Fort Patrick Henry Dam and Fort Patrick Henry Lake, named for the Founding Father Patrick Henry; and South Holston Dam and South Holston Lake.
Recreation
All three forks in Virginia, South Holston Lake, and the Holston River in Tennessee below the South Holston Dam offer relatively easy-to-reach recreation opportunities. The North Fork in Virginia is known as an excellent smallmouth bass river (because of mercury contamination, fish caught in the North Fork of the Holston below Saltville, Virginia, must not be consumed).[9] Both the South Fork in Virginia and the first 20 miles (32 km) of the Holston in Tennessee below South Holston Dam are quality brown trout and rainbow trout fisheries. The Holston River is wide and open enough to allow extensive fly fishing. South Holston Lake offers a variety of fishing opportunity as well, as it contains smallmouth bass, common carp, walleye, pike, sunfish, crappie and a few trout.
Crossings
Holston River
The following is a list of major road crossings on the Holston River:
| Bridge Name | Crossing/Road | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boyds Bridge | Boyds Bridge Pike/Strawberry Plains Pike | Knoxville, Tennessee | First road crossing over the Holston |
| Holston River Bridge | File:I-40.svg I-40 | Knoxville | |
| J.W. Will Taylor Memorial Bridge | File:US 11E.svgFile:US 25W.svgFile:US 70.svg US 11E / US 25W / US 70 (SR 9/SR 168/Asheville Highway) | Knoxville, Tennessee | |
| Mascot Bridge | Mascot Road | Mascot/Strawberry Plains, Tennessee | Concrete arch bridge |
| John K. Shields Bridge | File:Tennessee 92.svg SR 92 | Near Jefferson City, Tennessee | |
| Olen R. Marshall Bridge | File:US 25E.svg US 25E (SR 32/Davy Crockett Parkway) | Morristown/Bean Station, Tennessee | The Olen R. Marshall Bridge is one of two bridges to cross Cherokee Lake |
| Melinda Ferry Bridge | File:Secondary Tennessee 344.svg SR 344 (Melinda Ferry Road) | near Rogersville, Tennessee | |
| Hugh B. Day Bridge | File:Tennessee 66.svgFile:Tennessee 70.svg SR 66 / SR 70 | near Rogersville and Persia, Tennessee | |
| William L. Jenkins Bridge | File:Secondary Tennessee 347.svg SR 347 (Burem Pike) | near Rogersville | |
| Longs Bend Bridge | Longs Bend Pike | Surgoinsville, Tennessee | Original bridge was demolished in 2014. |
| Goshen Valley Road | Church Hill, Tennessee | Bridge does not have a name; final crossing over the main Holston River |
South Fork Holston River
The following is a list of major road crossings on the South Fork Holston River:
| Bridge Name | Crossing/Road | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| C.P. Edwards Bridge | Ridgefields Road | Kingsport, Tennessee | |
| File:I-26.svgFile:US 23.svg I-26 / US 23 | Kingsport, Tennessee | Two sets of bridges over the River, connected by the Long Island of the Holston | |
| File:Secondary Tennessee 126.svg SR 126 (S Wilcox Drive) | Kingsport, Tennessee | Two bridges over the river, connected by the Long Island of the Holston | |
| 2nd Street | Kingsport, Tennessee | Connects Long Island of the Holston to the mainland | |
| S Eastman Road / Ivory Street | Kingsport, Tennessee | Closed Bridge at Long Island of the Holston | |
| Jared Drive | Kingsport, Tennessee | Connects Long Island of the Holston to the mainland | |
| 13th Street | Kingsport, Tennessee | Connects Long Island of the Holston to the mainland | |
| Sgt. 1st Class O.B. Hickman Memorial Bridge | File:Tennessee 93.svg SR 93 (S John B. Dennis Highway) | Kingsport, Tennessee | |
| J Mack Ray Bridge | File:Secondary Tennessee 36.svg SR 36 (Fort Henry Drive) | Kingsport, Tennessee | Directly beside of Fort Patrick Henry Dam; Concrete arch on southbound span |
| Fall Creek Road | Warriors' Path State Park | No name bridge | |
| File:I-81.svg I-81 | Colonial Heights, Tennessee | ||
| Orville Depew "Dick" Kitzmiller and Riley Lee Milhorn Memorial Bridge | File:Secondary Tennessee 75.svg SR 75 | Spurgeon, Tennessee | Just a half mile west of Boone Dam |
| Devault Bridge | Devault Bridge Road | Halfway between Blountville and Piney Flats, Tennessee | |
| Marine PFC Charles Howard Duty Memorial Bridge | Enterprise Road / Beaver Creek Road | Near Bluff City, Tennessee | |
| Charlie Worley Bridge | File:US 11E.svgFile:US 19.svg US 11E / US 19 (SR 34) | Bluff City, Tennessee | |
| Reed H. Thomas Memorial Bridge | File:Secondary Tennessee 390.svg SR 390 | Bluff City, Tennessee | |
| File:Secondary Tennessee 358.svg SR 358 | Near Hickory Tree, Tennessee | No name bridge | |
| Webb Bridge | Old Weaver Pike | Near Hickory Tree, Tennessee | |
| PVT. Lawrence E. Carrier Memorial Bridge | File:Secondary Tennessee 44.svg SR 44 | Hickory Tree, Tennessee | |
| SSGTs. James B. White, Robert S. Shoaf, and Marvin H. Helbert Memorial Bridge | Holston View Dam Road | Emmett, Tennessee | Last crossing before South Holston Dam |
| 421 Bridge | File:US 421.svg US 421 (SR 34) | Holston Valley, Tennessee | |
| File:Circle sign 670.svg SR 670 (Green Springs Church Road / Denton Valley Road) | Green Spring, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Circle sign 710.svg SR 710 (Alvarado Road) | Alvarado, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:US 58.svg US 58 | Halfway between Osceola and Damascus, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Circle sign 719.svg SR 719 (McCann Road) | Near Damascus, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Virginia 91.svg SR 91 | Near Damascus, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Circle sign 724.svg SR 724 (Beech Grove Road) | near Lodi, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| Bucks Bridge | File:Circle sign 731.svg SR 731 (Bucks Bridge Road) | Between Lodi and Widener Valley, Virginia | |
| File:Circle sign 875.svg SR 875 (Little Rock Road) | Friendship, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Circle sign 604.svg SR 604 (Bishop Road) | Wilkinson's Mill, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| Elswick Bridge | File:Circle sign 649.svg SR 649 (Elswick Bridge Road) | Wilkinson's Mill, Virginia | |
| File:Circle sign 600.svg SR 600 (Whitetop Road) | Near Chilhowie, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| Edward "Bud" Ashby Memorial Bridge | File:Circle sign 645.svg SR 645 (Red Stone Road) | Near Chilhowie, Virginia | |
| Hiler Bridge | File:Circle sign 648.svg SR 648 (Hiler Bridge Road) | near Adwolfe, Virginia | |
| File:Circle sign 604.svg SR 604 (Red Stone Road) | Adwolfe, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| Tilleys Bridge | File:Circle sign 658.svg SR 658 (Tilleys Bridge Road) | Adwolfe, Virginia | |
| Thomas Bridge | File:Circle sign 657.svg SR 657 (Thomas Bridge Road) | Stony Battery, Virginia | |
| File:Circle sign 709.svg SR 709 (Deans Branch) | Stony Battery, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Circle sign 670.svg SR 670 (Teas Road) | near Sugar Grove, Virginia | 3 different bridges | |
| File:Circle sign 674.svg SR 674 (Sand Mines Road) | Sugar Grove, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Virginia 16.svg SR 16 | Sugar Grove, Virginia | No name bridge |
North Fork Holston River
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Middle Fork Holston River
The following is a list of major road crossings on the Middle Fork Holston River:
| Bridge Name | Crossing/Road | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:US 58.svg US 58 | Between Ashleys and Osceola, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Circle sign 803.svg SR 803 (Rivermount Drive) | Near Lodi, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Virginia 91.svg SR 91 | Between Lodi and Glade Spring, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| Prices Bridge | File:Circle sign 714.svg SR 714 (Prices Bridge Road) | Price Hill, Virginia | |
| File:I-81.svg I-81 | Chilhowie, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Virginia 107.svg SR 107 | Chilhowie, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Circle sign 638.svg SR 638 (Tattle Branch Road) | Chilhowie, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| Pioneer Memorial Bridge | File:US 11.svg US 11 | Seven Mile Ford, Virginia | |
| File:Circle sign 645.svg SR 645 (Fox Valley Road) | Seven Mile Ford, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Circle sign 659.svg SR 659 (Old Ebenezer Road) | McMullin, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| Country Club Road | Marion, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| L.W. Kelly Bridge | Baughman Avenue | Marion, Virginia | |
| N Church Street | Marion, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| W.E. Francis Bridge | Chatham Hill Road | Marion, Virginia | |
| E Church Street | Marion, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:US 11.svgFile:Virginia 16.svg US 11 / SR 16 | Marion, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Circle sign 691.svg SR 691 (Johnstone Road) | Marion, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:US 11.svg US 11 | Marion, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Circle sign 689.svg SR 689 (Snider Branch Road) | Near Atkins, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Circle sign 622.svg SR 622 (Bear Creek Road) | Atkins, Virginia | No name bridge | |
| File:Circle sign 626.svg SR 626 (Ole Hickory Lane) | Atkins, Virginia | No name bridge |
See also
References
- ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: North Fork Holston River
- ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: South Fork Holston River
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Holston River
- ↑ U.S. Geological Survey, "Introduction to the Upper Tennessee River Basin," 11 January 2013. Accessed: 2 June 2015.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 United States Geological Survey, Water Resources Data Tennessee: Water Year 1983, Water Data Report TN-83-1, p. 123.
- ↑ The Civil and Political History of the State of Tennessee from Its Earliest Settlement up to the Year 1796, including the Boundaries of the State, John Haywood, 1823/reprinted 1891; available in full-text online at Internet Archive
- ↑ Stewart, George R. (1967) [1945]. Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States (Sentry edition (3rd) ed.). Houghton Mifflin.
- ↑ "Holston River - South Fork". Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Archived from the original on 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ↑ "Holston River - North Fork". Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
