Holston River
River in Tennessee, United States
Holston River Country United States State Virginia , Tennessee Source North Fork Holston River • location Bland County , Virginia • coordinates 37°03′51″N 81°16′15″W / 37.06417°N 81.27083°W / 37.06417; -81.27083 [ 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 / 36.76972; -81.36778 [ 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 / 36.54750; -82.61222 [ 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 / 35.95917; -83.85000 [ 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]
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] [ 7] 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] 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] 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:
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
I-26 / US 23
Kingsport, Tennessee
Two sets of bridges over the River, connected by the Long Island of the Holston
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
SR 93 (S John B. Dennis Highway)
Kingsport, Tennessee
J Mack Ray Bridge
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
I-81
Colonial Heights, Tennessee
Orville Depew "Dick" Kitzmiller and Riley Lee Milhorn Memorial Bridge
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
US 11E / US 19 (SR 34 )
Bluff City, Tennessee
Reed H. Thomas Memorial Bridge
SR 390
Bluff City, Tennessee
SR 358
Near Hickory Tree, Tennessee
No name bridge
Webb Bridge
Old Weaver Pike
Near Hickory Tree, Tennessee
PVT. Lawrence E. Carrier Memorial Bridge
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
US 421 (SR 34 )
Holston Valley, Tennessee
SR 670 (Green Springs Church Road / Denton Valley Road)
Green Spring, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 710 (Alvarado Road)
Alvarado, Virginia
No name bridge
US 58
Halfway between Osceola and Damascus, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 719 (McCann Road)
Near Damascus, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 91
Near Damascus, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 724 (Beech Grove Road)
near Lodi, Virginia
No name bridge
Bucks Bridge
SR 731 (Bucks Bridge Road)
Between Lodi and Widener Valley, Virginia
SR 875 (Little Rock Road)
Friendship, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 604 (Bishop Road)
Wilkinson's Mill, Virginia
No name bridge
Elswick Bridge
SR 649 (Elswick Bridge Road)
Wilkinson's Mill, Virginia
SR 600 (Whitetop Road)
Near Chilhowie, Virginia
No name bridge
Edward "Bud" Ashby Memorial Bridge
SR 645 (Red Stone Road)
Near Chilhowie, Virginia
Hiler Bridge
SR 648 (Hiler Bridge Road)
near Adwolfe, Virginia
SR 604 (Red Stone Road)
Adwolfe, Virginia
No name bridge
Tilleys Bridge
SR 658 (Tilleys Bridge Road)
Adwolfe, Virginia
Thomas Bridge
SR 657 (Thomas Bridge Road)
Stony Battery, Virginia
SR 709 (Deans Branch)
Stony Battery, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 670 (Teas Road)
near Sugar Grove, Virginia
3 different bridges
SR 674 (Sand Mines Road)
Sugar Grove, Virginia
No name bridge
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
US 58
Between Ashleys and Osceola, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 803 (Rivermount Drive)
Near Lodi, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 91
Between Lodi and Glade Spring, Virginia
No name bridge
Prices Bridge
SR 714 (Prices Bridge Road)
Price Hill, Virginia
I-81
Chilhowie, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 107
Chilhowie, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 638 (Tattle Branch Road)
Chilhowie, Virginia
No name bridge
Pioneer Memorial Bridge
US 11
Seven Mile Ford, Virginia
SR 645 (Fox Valley Road)
Seven Mile Ford, Virginia
No name bridge
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
US 11 / SR 16
Marion, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 691 (Johnstone Road)
Marion, Virginia
No name bridge
US 11
Marion, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 689 (Snider Branch Road)
Near Atkins, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 622 (Bear Creek Road)
Atkins, Virginia
No name bridge
SR 626 (Ole Hickory Lane)
Atkins, Virginia
No name bridge
See also
References
External links
International National Other
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