# Holston River

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". 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.

## 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. 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

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 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
### 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 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

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 |

### 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 |