Wikipedia

Holston River

(Redirected from Holston Valley)
For other uses of "Holston", see Holston (disambiguation).

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.

Holston River
The North Fork of the Holston River near Weber City, Virginia.
Location
CountryUnited States
StateVirginia, Tennessee
Physical characteristics
SourceNorth Fork Holston River
 • locationBland County, Virginia
 • coordinates37°03′51″N 81°16′15″W / 37.06417°N 81.27083°W / 37.06417; -81.27083[1]
 • elevation2,880 ft (880 m)
2nd sourceSouth Fork Holston River
 • locationSmyth County, Virginia
 • coordinates36°46′11″N 81°22′04″W / 36.76972°N 81.36778°W / 36.76972; -81.36778[2]
 • elevation2,900 ft (880 m)
3rd source 
 • locationKingsport, Tennessee
 • coordinates36°32′51″N 82°36′44″W / 36.54750°N 82.61222°W / 36.54750; -82.61222[3]
 • elevation1,158 ft (353 m)
MouthTennessee 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]
Length136 mi (219 km)[3]
Basin size3,776 sq mi (9,780 km2)[4]
Discharge 
 • locationJ. 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]
 • average4,759 cu ft/s (134.8 m3/s)(mean for water years 1931–1975, 1979-1983)[5]
 • minimum44 cu ft/s (1.2 m3/s)December 1941[5]
 • maximum62,900 cu ft/s (1,780 m3/s)March 1935[5]
Basin features
River systemTennessee → Ohio → Mississippi

History

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Holston River

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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   I-40 Knoxville
J.W. Will Taylor Memorial Bridge     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   SR 92 Near Jefferson City, Tennessee
Olen R. Marshall Bridge   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   SR 344 (Melinda Ferry Road) near Rogersville, Tennessee
Hugh B. Day Bridge    SR 66 / SR 70 near Rogersville and Persia, Tennessee
William L. Jenkins Bridge   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

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: North Fork Holston River
  2. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: South Fork Holston River
  3. ^ a b c d U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Holston River
  4. ^ U.S. Geological Survey, "Introduction to the Upper Tennessee River Basin," 11 January 2013. Accessed: 2 June 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d United States Geological Survey, Water Resources Data Tennessee: Water Year 1983, Water Data Report TN-83-1, p. 123.
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ "Holston River - South Fork". Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Archived from the original on 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  9. ^ "Holston River - North Fork". Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
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