| Holston River | |
| Map: | Holstonrivermap.png |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Virginia, Tennessee |
| Length: | 136miles |
| Discharge1 Location: | J. Will Taylor Bridge (Hwy. 70) near Knoxville, Tennessee, 5.5miles above the mouth(mean for water years 1931–1975, 1979-1983)[1] |
| Discharge1 Min: | 44cuft/sDecember 1941 |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 4759cuft/s(mean for water years 1931–1975, 1979-1983)[2] |
| Discharge1 Max: | 62900cuft/sMarch 1935 |
| Source1: | North Fork Holston River |
| Source1 Location: | Bland County, Virginia |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 37.0642°N -81.2708°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 2880feet |
| Source2: | South Fork Holston River |
| Source2 Location: | Smyth County, Virginia |
| Source2 Coordinates: | 36.7697°N -81.3678°W |
| Source2 Elevation: | 2900feet |
| Source3 Location: | Kingsport, Tennessee |
| Source3 Coordinates: | 36.5475°N -82.6122°W |
| Source3 Elevation: | 1158feet |
| Mouth: | Tennessee River |
| Mouth Location: | Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 35.9592°N -83.85°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 814feet |
| River System: | Tennessee → Ohio → Mississippi |
| Basin Size: | 3776sqmi[3] |
The Holston River is a 136miles 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.
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".[4] 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.[5] Similarly, Holston Mountain was named after the Holston River.
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.[6] The Watauga River, a tributary of the South Fork Holston, flows 78.5miles westward from Watauga County, North Carolina.
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.
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).[7] 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.
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 | Knoxville | |||
| J.W. Will Taylor Memorial Bridge | Knoxville, Tennessee | |||
| Mascot Bridge | Mascot Road | Mascot/Strawberry Plains, Tennessee | Concrete arch bridge | |
| John K. Shields Bridge | Near Jefferson City, Tennessee | |||
| Olen R. Marshall Bridge | Morristown/Bean Station, Tennessee | The Olen R. Marshall Bridge is one of two bridges to cross Cherokee Lake | ||
| Melinda Ferry Bridge | near Rogersville, Tennessee | |||
| Hugh B. Day Bridge | near Rogersville and Persia, Tennessee | |||
| William L. Jenkins Bridge | 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 |
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 | ||
| Kingsport, Tennessee | Two sets of bridges over the River, connected by the Long Island of the Holston | |||
| 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 | Kingsport, Tennessee | |||
| J Mack Ray Bridge | Kingsport, Tennessee | Directly beside of Fort Patrick Henry Dam; Concrete arch on southbound span | ||
| Fall Creek Road | Warriors' Path State Park | No name bridge | ||
| Colonial Heights, Tennessee | ||||
| Orville Depew "Dick" Kitzmiller and Riley Lee Milhorn Memorial Bridge | 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 | Bluff City, Tennessee | |||
| Reed H. Thomas Memorial Bridge | Bluff City, Tennessee | |||
| Near Hickory Tree, Tennessee | No name bridge | |||
| Webb Bridge | Old Weaver Pike | Near Hickory Tree, Tennessee | ||
| PVT. Lawrence E. Carrier Memorial Bridge | 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 | Holston Valley, Tennessee | |||
| Green Spring, Virginia | No name bridge | |||
| Alvarado, Virginia | No name bridge | |||
| Halfway between Osceola and Damascus, Virginia | No name bridge | |||
| Near Damascus, Virginia | No name bridge | |||
| Near Damascus, Virginia | No name bridge | |||
| near Lodi, Virginia | No name bridge | |||
| Bucks Bridge | Between Lodi and Widener Valley, Virginia | |||
| Friendship, Virginia | No name bridge | |||
| Wilkinson's Mill, Virginia | No name bridge | |||
| Elswick Bridge | Wilkinson's Mill, Virginia | |||
| Near Chilhowie, Virginia | No name bridge | |||
| Edward "Bud" Ashby Memorial Bridge | Near Chilhowie, Virginia | |||
| Hiler Bridge | near Adwolfe, Virginia | |||
| Adwolfe, Virginia | No name bridge | |||
| Tilleys Bridge | Adwolfe, Virginia | |||
| Thomas Bridge | Stony Battery, Virginia | |||
| Stony Battery, Virginia | No name bridge | |||
| near Sugar Grove, Virginia | 3 different bridges | |||
| Sugar Grove, Virginia | No name bridge | |||
| Sugar Grove, Virginia | No name bridge |
The following is a list of major road crossings on the Middle Fork Holston River:
| Bridge Name | Crossing/Road | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Between Ashleys and Osceola, Virginia | No name bridge | ||
| Near Lodi, Virginia | No name bridge | ||
| Between Lodi and Glade Spring, Virginia | No name bridge | ||
| Prices Bridge | Price Hill, Virginia | ||
| Chilhowie, Virginia | No name bridge | ||
| Chilhowie, Virginia | No name bridge | ||
| Chilhowie, Virginia | No name bridge | ||
| Pioneer Memorial Bridge | Seven Mile Ford, Virginia | ||
| Seven Mile Ford, Virginia | No name bridge | ||
| 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 | |
| Marion, Virginia | No name bridge | ||
| Marion, Virginia | No name bridge | ||
| Marion, Virginia | No name bridge | ||
| Near Atkins, Virginia | No name bridge | ||
| Atkins, Virginia | No name bridge | ||
| Atkins, Virginia | No name bridge | ||