The Holston River is a 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".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 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. Similarly, Holston Mountain was named after the Holston River.
The North Fork of the river was polluted by the "Muck Dam" break in Saltville, Virginia on December 24, 1924, which allowed the release of a huge volume of liquid chemical waste stored there by the Mathieson Alkali Company, taking the lives of nineteen people who lived along the river. The river remained polluted and virtually dead for several decades afterward.
Course The North Fork flows southwest from Sharon Springs in Bland County, Virginia. The Middle Fork flows 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 southwest to join the North Fork at Kingsport. The Watauga River, a tributary of the South Fork Holston, flows 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). Both the South Fork in Virginia and the first 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 NotesBoyds BridgeBoyds Bridge Pike/Strawberry Plains PikeKnoxville, TennesseeFirst road crossing over the HolstonHolston River BridgeKnoxvilleJ.W. Will Taylor Memorial BridgeKnoxville, TennesseeMascot BridgeMascot RoadMascot/Strawberry Plains, TennesseeConcrete arch bridgeJohn K. Shields BridgeNear Jefferson City, TennesseeOlen R. Marshall BridgeMorristown/Bean Station, TennesseeThe Olen R. Marshall Bridge is one of two bridges to cross Cherokee LakeMelinda Ferry Bridgenear Rogersville, TennesseeHugh B. Day Bridgenear Rogersville and Persia, TennesseeWilliam L. Jenkins Bridgenear RogersvilleLongs Bend BridgeLongs Bend PikeSurgoinsville, TennesseeOriginal bridge was demolished in 2014.Goshen Valley RoadChurch Hill, TennesseeBridge 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 NotesC.P. Edwards BridgeRidgefields RoadKingsport, TennesseeKingsport, TennesseeTwo sets of bridges over the river, connected by the Long Island of the HolstonKingsport, TennesseeTwo bridges over the river, connected by the Long Island of the Holston2nd StreetKingsport, TennesseeConnects Long Island of the Holston to the mainlandS Eastman Road / Ivory StreetKingsport, TennesseeClosed Bridge at Long Island of the HolstonJared DriveKingsport, TennesseeConnects Long Island of the Holston to the mainland13th StreetKingsport, TennesseeConnects Long Island of the Holston to the mainlandSgt. 1st Class O.B. Hickman Memorial BridgeKingsport, TennesseeJ Mack Ray BridgeKingsport, TennesseeDirectly beside of Fort Patrick Henry Dam; Concrete arch on southbound spanFall Creek RoadWarriors' Path State ParkNo name bridgeColonial Heights, TennesseeOrville Depew "Dick" Kitzmiller and Riley Lee Milhorn Memorial BridgeSpurgeon, TennesseeJust a half mile west of Boone DamDevault BridgeDevault Bridge RoadHalfway between Blountville and Piney Flats, TennesseeMarine PFC Charles Howard Duty Memorial BridgeEnterprise Road / Beaver Creek RoadNear Bluff City, TennesseeCharlie Worley Bridge Bluff City, TennesseeReed H. Thomas Memorial BridgeBluff City, TennesseeNear Hickory Tree, TennesseeNo name bridgeWebb BridgeOld Weaver PikeNear Hickory Tree, TennesseePVT. Lawrence E. Carrier Memorial BridgeHickory Tree, TennesseeSSGTs. James B. White, Robert S. Shoaf, and Marvin H. Helbert Memorial BridgeHolston View Dam RoadEmmett, TennesseeLast crossing before South Holston Dam421 BridgeHolston Valley, TennesseeGreen Spring, VirginiaNo name bridgeAlvarado, VirginiaNo name bridgeHalfway between Osceola and Damascus, VirginiaNo name bridgeNear Damascus, VirginiaNo name bridgeNear Damascus, VirginiaNo name bridgenear Lodi, VirginiaNo name bridgeBucks BridgeBetween Lodi and Widener Valley, VirginiaFriendship, VirginiaNo name bridgeWilkinson's Mill, VirginiaNo name bridgeElswick BridgeWilkinson's Mill, VirginiaNear Chilhowie, VirginiaNo name bridgeEdward "Bud" Ashby Memorial BridgeNear Chilhowie, VirginiaHiler Bridgenear Adwolfe, VirginiaAdwolfe, VirginiaNo name bridgeTilleys BridgeAdwolfe, VirginiaThomas BridgeStony Battery, VirginiaStony Battery, VirginiaNo name bridgenear Sugar Grove, Virginia3 different bridgesSugar Grove, VirginiaNo name bridgeSugar Grove, VirginiaNo name bridge
North Fork Holston River
Middle Fork Holston River
The following is a list of major road crossings on the Middle Fork Holston River: Bridge Name Crossing/Road Location NotesBetween Ashleys and Osceola, VirginiaNo name bridgeNear Lodi, VirginiaNo name bridgeBetween Lodi and Glade Spring, VirginiaNo name bridgePrices BridgePrice Hill, VirginiaChilhowie, VirginiaNo name bridgeChilhowie, VirginiaNo name bridgeChilhowie, VirginiaNo name bridgePioneer Memorial BridgeSeven Mile Ford, VirginiaSeven Mile Ford, VirginiaNo name bridgeMcMullin, VirginiaNo name bridgeCountry Club RoadMarion, VirginiaNo name bridgeL.W. Kelly BridgeBaughman AvenueMarion, VirginiaN Church StreetMarion, VirginiaNo name bridgeW.E. Francis BridgeChatham Hill RoadMarion, VirginiaE Church StreetMarion, VirginiaNo name bridgeMarion, VirginiaNo name bridgeMarion, VirginiaNo name bridgeMarion, VirginiaNo name bridgeNear Atkins, VirginiaNo name bridgeAtkins, VirginiaNo name bridgeAtkins, VirginiaNo name bridge
See also List of Tennessee rivers List of Virginia rivers
References
External links