Holston River

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

Holston River
River
The North Fork of the Holston River near Weber City, Virginia.
Country	United States
States	Virginia, Tennessee
Part of	Tennessee → Ohio → Mississippi
Primary source	North Fork Holston River
- location	Bland County, Virginia
- elevation	2,880 ft (878 m)
- coordinates
Secondary source	South Fork Holston River
- location	Smyth County, Virginia
- elevation	2,900 ft (884 m)
- coordinates
Source confluence
- location	Kingsport, Tennessee
- elevation	1,158 ft (353 m)
- coordinates
Mouth	Tennessee River
- location	Knoxville, Tennessee
- elevation	814 ft (248 m)
- coordinates
Length	136 mi (219 km)
Basin	3,776 sq mi (9,780 km2)
Discharge	for J. Will Taylor Bridge (Hwy. 70) near Knoxville, Tennessee, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) above the mouth
- average	4,759 cu ft/s (135 m3/s) (mean for water years 1931–1975, 1979-1983)
- max	62,900 cu ft/s (1,781 m3/s) March 1935
- min	44 cu ft/s (1.2 m3/s) December 1941

The Holston River is a 136-mile (219,000 m) 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.

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. The Watauga River, a tributary of the South Fork Holston, flows 78.5 miles (126,300 m) westward from Watauga County, North Carolina.

The main stem of the Holston is impounded by the Tennessee Valley Authority's Cherokee Dam near Jefferson City, Tennessee. 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.

Power generation

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.

Area

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 Revolutionary War hero; and South Holston Dam and South Holston Lake. Cherokee Dam on the Holston River forms Cherokee Lake, named for the historic Native Americans who occupied the areas along the Holston River at the time of European-American settlement. The United States settlers and army fought with the Cherokee over land and eventually removed most of them to territory west of the Mississippi River, under the 1830 Indian Removal Act.

Name

The river was named after Stephen Holstein, a European-American settler who built a cabin in 1746 on the upper reaches of the river. Holston Mountain was named after the Holston River.

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 (due to 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 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.

List of 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 on the Holston
Holston River Bridge	Interstate 40	Knoxville
J.W. Will Taylor Memorial Bridge	US 11E / US 25W / US 70 / SR 9 / SR-168 (Asheville Highway)	Knoxville
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 the only two bridges that cross the 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)	location near Rogersville
Longs Bend Bridge (Current Bridge)	Longs Bend Pike	Surgoinsville, Tennessee	Historic Longs Bend Bridge is being replace and is set to demolished
	Goshen Valley Road	Church Hill, Tennessee	Bridge does not have a name; Final crossing on the main Hoston River

See also

• List of Tennessee rivers
• List of Virginia rivers
• Watauga River
• Doe River

External links

• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Holston River