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Holston River

 
Holston River

 
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The Holston River is a major river
River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
 system of southwestern
Southwest Virginia

Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the Commonwealth . Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Virginia counties on the Appalachian Plateau, all Virginia counties west of the Eastern Continental Divide, or at its greatest expanse, as far east...
 Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
 and East Tennessee
East Tennessee

East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions defined in state law....
. The three major forks of the Holston (its North, Middle and South Forks) rise in southwestern Virginia and have their confluence near Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport, Tennessee

Kingsport is a city in Hawkins County, Tennessee and Sullivan County, Tennessee counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The majority of the city lies in Sullivan County....
. From there the river flows roughly southwestward, just north of Bays Mountain
Bays Mountain

Bays Mountain is a ridge of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians, located in eastern Tennessee. It runs southwest to northeast, from just south of Knoxville, Tennessee to Kingsport, Tennessee....
, until it reaches its confluence
Confluence

Confluence may refer to:* Confluence , the point where two or more bodies of water meet and merge* Deformation , the streamline air flow convergence of a fluid air parcel...
 with the French Broad River
French Broad River

The French Broad River flows from near Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee. Its Confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville, Tennessee is considered to be the headwaters of the Tennessee River....
 just east of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee

Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, behind Memphis, Tennessee and Nashville, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee....
. This confluence is considered to be the start of the Tennessee River
Tennessee River

The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the Southern United States in the Tennessee Valley....
.

The Holston River valley is greatly developed for electrical
Electricity

Electricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena such as lightning and static electricity, but in addition, less familiar concepts such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction....
 power generation, both with hydroelectric dam
Dam

A dam is a barrier that Reservoirs surface water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates, levees, and Dike are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions....
s and coal
Coal

Coal is a readily combustion black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. The harder forms, such as anthracite, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure....
-fired steam plants.






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The Holston River is a major river
River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
 system of southwestern
Southwest Virginia

Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the Commonwealth . Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Virginia counties on the Appalachian Plateau, all Virginia counties west of the Eastern Continental Divide, or at its greatest expanse, as far east...
 Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
 and East Tennessee
East Tennessee

East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions defined in state law....
. The three major forks of the Holston (its North, Middle and South Forks) rise in southwestern Virginia and have their confluence near Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport, Tennessee

Kingsport is a city in Hawkins County, Tennessee and Sullivan County, Tennessee counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The majority of the city lies in Sullivan County....
. From there the river flows roughly southwestward, just north of Bays Mountain
Bays Mountain

Bays Mountain is a ridge of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians, located in eastern Tennessee. It runs southwest to northeast, from just south of Knoxville, Tennessee to Kingsport, Tennessee....
, until it reaches its confluence
Confluence

Confluence may refer to:* Confluence , the point where two or more bodies of water meet and merge* Deformation , the streamline air flow convergence of a fluid air parcel...
 with the French Broad River
French Broad River

The French Broad River flows from near Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee. Its Confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville, Tennessee is considered to be the headwaters of the Tennessee River....
 just east of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee

Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, behind Memphis, Tennessee and Nashville, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee....
. This confluence is considered to be the start of the Tennessee River
Tennessee River

The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the Southern United States in the Tennessee Valley....
.

The Holston River valley is greatly developed for electrical
Electricity

Electricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena such as lightning and static electricity, but in addition, less familiar concepts such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction....
 power generation, both with hydroelectric dam
Dam

A dam is a barrier that Reservoirs surface water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates, levees, and Dike are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions....
s and coal
Coal

Coal is a readily combustion black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. The harder forms, such as anthracite, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure....
-fired steam plants. In its 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
Tennessee Valley Authority

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, Flood, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly impacted by the Great Depression....
. Among the dams and associated reservoirs on the South Fork Holston River are Boone Dam
Boone Dam

Boone Dam is a hydroelectric and flood control dam on the South Fork Holston River on the border between Sullivan County, Tennessee and Washington County, Tennessee in the U.S....
 and Boone Reservoir
Boone Lake

Boone Lake is a reservoir in Sullivan County, Tennessee and Washington County, Tennessee counties in northeastern Tennessee, formed by the impoundment of the South Fork Holston River behind Boone Dam....
; Fort Patrick Henry Dam
Fort Patrick Henry Dam

Fort Patrick Henry Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the South Fork Holston River in Sullivan County, Tennessee in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the lowermost of three dams on the South Fork Holston owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1950s to take advantage of the hydroelectric potential c...
 and Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir, and South Holston Dam
South Holston Dam

South Holston Dam is a hydroelectric and flood control dam on the South Fork Holston River in Sullivan County, Tennessee, in the U.S. state of Tennessee....
 and South Holston Reservoir. Cherokee Dam
Cherokee Dam

Cherokee Dam is a hydroelectric dam located on the Holston River in Grainger County, Tennessee and Jefferson County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States....
 on the Holston River
Holston River

The Holston River is a major river system of Southwest Virginia Virginia and East Tennessee. The three major forks of the Holston rise in southwestern Virginia and have their confluence near Kingsport, Tennessee....
 forms Cherokee Reservoir
Cherokee Reservoir

Cherokee Reservoir, also known as Cherokee Lake, is a reservoir in Tennessee formed by the impoundment of the Holston River behind Cherokee Dam....
.

The river was named after Stephen Holstein, who built a cabin
Log cabin

A log cabin is a small house built from loggings. It is a simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." "Log cabin" generally denotes a simple one, or one-and-one-half story structure, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less architecturally sophisticated....
 on the upper reaches of the river in 1746. Holston Mountain
Holston Mountain

Holston Mountain is a mountain in northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia Virginia, in the United States. It is in the Blue Ridge Mountains part of the Appalachian Mountains....
 was named after the Holston River.

Although the Holston River is now defined as ending at the French Broad River to form the Tennessee River at its mile post 652 in Knoxville, before 1933 the terminus of the Holston River was defined as the location 51 miles downstream of Knoxville at Lenoir City
Lenoir City, Tennessee

Lenoir City is a city in Loudon County, Tennessee, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 6,819 at the United States Census, 2000. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area....
 where the Little Tennessee River
Little Tennessee River

The Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River, approximately 135 miles long, in the Appalachian Mountains in the Southeastern United States United States....
 enters the river. That point, the confluence of the Holston and Little Tennessee Rivers, was considered to be the beginning of the Tennessee River, 601 miles upstream from the Ohio River
Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. It is approximately 981 miles long and is located in the eastern United States....
 at Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah, Kentucky

Paducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River....
. According to Tennessee Valley Authority historians, when the Tennessee Valley Authority was created in 1933, Congress mandated that the TVA headquarters be located on the banks of the Tennessee River. Since the TVA headquarters were to be located in downtown Knoxville on what was then the Holston River, in order to fulfill the Congressional mandate the official start of the Tennessee River was moved upstream from Lenoir City to the confluence of the Holston and French Broad Rivers.

See also

  • List of Tennessee rivers
    List of Tennessee rivers

    This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Tennessee:...
  • List of Virginia rivers
    List of Virginia rivers

    This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Virginia....
  • Holston Lake
  • Watauga River
    Watauga River

    The Watauga River is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It is 60 miles long with its headwaters on the slopes of Grandfather Mountain in Watauga County, North Carolina....
  • Doe River
    Doe River

    The Doe River is a naturally flowing river in northeast Tennessee that forms in Carter County, Tennessee near the North Carolina line, just south of Roan Mountain State Park....