Tennessee River
Tennessee River | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky |
Largest City | Huntsville |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Confluence of French Broad and Holston rivers at Knoxville |
• coordinates | 35°57′33″N 83°51′01″W / 35.95917°N 83.85028°W[1] |
• elevation | 813 ft (248 m)[2] |
Mouth | Ohio River at Livingston / McCracken counties, near Paducah, Kentucky |
• coordinates | 37°04′02″N 88°33′53″W / 37.06722°N 88.56472°W[1] |
• elevation | 302 ft (92 m)[3] |
Length | 652 mi (1,049 km)[1] |
Basin size | 40,876 sq mi (105,870 km2)[4] |
Discharge | |
• average | 70,575 cu ft/s (1,998.5 m3/s)[4] |
• maximum | 500,000 cu ft/s (14,000 m3/s) |
The Tennessee River is the largest
Course
The Tennessee River is formed at the confluence of the Holston and French Broad rivers in present-day Knoxville, Tennessee. From Knoxville, it flows southwest through East Tennessee into Chattanooga before crossing into Alabama. It travels through the Huntsville and Decatur area before reaching the Muscle Shoals area, and eventually forms a small part of the state's border with Mississippi, before returning to Tennessee. The river misses Georgia by about 250 feet (76 m). The Tennessee River's route northerly through Tennessee defines the boundary between two of Tennessee's Grand Divisions: Middle and West Tennessee.
The
Dams
The river has been
Important cities and towns
- Bridgeport, Alabama
- Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Cherokee, Alabama
- Clifton, Tennessee
- Camden, Tennessee
- Crump, Tennessee
- Dayton, Tennessee
- Decatur, Alabama
- Florence, Alabama
- Gilbertsville, Kentucky
- Grand Rivers, Kentucky
- Guntersville, Alabama
- Harrison, Tennessee
- Huntsville, Alabama
- Killen, Alabama
- Kingston, Tennessee
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Langston, Alabama
- Lenoir City, Tennessee
- Loudon, Tennessee
- Muscle Shoals, Alabama
- New Johnsonville, Tennessee
- Paducah, Kentucky
- Paris, Tennessee
- Parsons, Tennessee
- Savannah, Tennessee
- Scottsboro, Alabama
- Sheffield, Alabama
- Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee
- Signal Mountain, Tennessee
- South Pittsburg, Tennessee
- Triana, Alabama
- Waterloo, Alabama
History
The river valley was once home to several Native American tribes. At Painted Bluff, in northeast Alabama, painted glyphs dating to ca. 1400 A.D. have been discovered among cliffs overlooking the river.[7]
The first major battles of the American Civil War occurred along the river in 1862. The commander in the western theater, General Henry Halleck, considered the Tennessee River to be more significant than the Mississippi.[8]
Name
The river appears on French maps from the late 17th century with the names "Caquinampo" or "Kasqui." Maps from the early 18th century call it "Cussate," "Hogohegee," "Callamaco," and "Acanseapi." A 1755 British map showed the Tennessee River as the "River of the Cherakees."[9] By the late 18th century, it had come to be called "Tennessee," a name derived from the Cherokee village named Tanasi.[6][9]
Beginning
The Tennessee River begins at mile post 652, where the French Broad River meets the Holston River, but historically there were several different definitions of its starting point. In the late 18th century, the mouth of the Little Tennessee River (at Lenoir City) was considered to be the beginning of the Tennessee River. Through much of the 19th century, the Tennessee River was considered to start at the mouth of Clinch River (at Kingston). An 1889 declaration by the Tennessee General Assembly designated Kingsport (on the Holston River) as the start of the Tennessee, but the following year a federal law was enacted that finally fixed the start of the river at its current location.[9]
Water rights and border dispute between Georgia and Tennessee
At various points since the early 19th century, Georgia has disputed its northern border with Tennessee. In 1796, when Tennessee was admitted to the Union, the border was originally defined by United States Congress as located on the 35th parallel, thereby ensuring that at least a portion of the river would be located within Georgia. As a result of an erroneously conducted survey in 1818 (ratified by the Tennessee legislature, but not Georgia), however, the actual border line was set on the ground approximately one mile south, thus placing the disputed portion of the river entirely in Tennessee.[10][11]
Georgia made several unsuccessful attempts to correct what Georgia felt was an erroneous survey line "in the 1890s, 1905, 1915, 1922, 1941, 1947 and 1971 to 'resolve' the dispute", according to C. Crews Townsend, Joseph McCoin, Robert F. Parsley, Alison Martin and Zachary H. Greene, in their May 12, 2008, article for the Tennessee Bar Journal, a publication of the Tennessee Bar Association.[12]
In 2008, as a result of a serious drought and resulting water shortage, the
According to a story aired on
The
"The Great Georgia-Tennessee Border War of 2013 Is Upon Us Historians, take note: On this day, which is not a day in 1732, a boundary dispute between two Southern states took a turn for the wet. In a two-page resolution passed overwhelmingly by the state senate, Georgia declared that it, not its neighbor to the north, controls part of the Tennessee River at Nickajack. Georgia doesn't want Nickajack. It wants that water.".[17]
Modern use
The Tennessee River is an important part of the Great Loop, the recreational circumnavigation of Eastern North America by water. The main channel is accessible to recreational watercraft at over 200 public access points along the river's course.[18]
The Tennessee River has historically been a major highway for
In addition, locks along the Tennessee River waterway provide passage between reservoirs for more than 13,000 recreational craft each year. The Chickamauga Dam, located just upstream from Chattanooga, is projected to have a new lock built, but it has been delayed due to a lack of funding.[20] The river not only has many economic functions, such as the boat building industry and transportation, but it also provides water and natural resources to those who live near the river. Many of the major ports on the river are connected to a settlement that was started because of its proximity to the river.
On October 15, 2022, the University of Tennessee Volunteers football team defeated the University of Alabama Crimson Tide 52–49 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, on a game-winning field goal by Chase McGrath as time expired. In celebration of this victory, the fans stormed the field, tore down the goalposts, and threw them into the Tennessee River after an impromptu parade in which fans carried the goalposts around the city of Knoxville.[21]
Ecology
The Tennessee River and its tributaries host some 102 species of mussel.[22] Native Americans ate freshwater mussels. Potters of the Mississippian culture used crushed mussel shell mixed into clay to make their pottery stronger.
A "pearl"
Tennessee River tributaries
Tributaries and sub-tributaries are listed hierarchically in order from the mouth of the Tennessee River upstream.
- Horse Creek (Tennessee)
- Big Sandy River (Tennessee)
- White Oak Creek
- Duck River (Tennessee)
- Buffalo River (Tennessee)
- Piney River (Tennessee)
- Little Duck River
- Beech River (Tennessee)
- Shoal Creek
- Bear Creek (Alabama, Mississippi)[24]
- Buzzard Roost Creek (Alabama)[24]
- Colbert Creek (Alabama)[24]
- Cotaco Creek (Alabama)
- Malone Creek (Alabama)[24]
- Mulberry Creek (Alabama)[24]
- Cane Creek (Alabama)[24]
- Dry Creek (Alabama)[24]
- Little Bear Creek (Alabama)[24]
- Spring Creek (Alabama)[25]
- Cypress Creek (Alabama)[25]
- Shoal Creek (Alabama)[25]
- First Creek (Alabama)[25]
- Elk River(Tennessee, Alabama)
- Flint Creek (Alabama)
- Limestone Creek (Alabama, Tennessee)
- Beaverdam Creek (Alabama)
- Indian Creek (Alabama)
- Barren Fork Creek (Alabama)
- Bradford Creek ,Briefly merged with Barren Fork Creek (Alabama)
- Flint River (Alabama, Tennessee)
- Paint Rock River (Alabama, Tennessee)
- Sequatchie River (Tennessee)
- Mountain Creek (Tennessee)
- Lookout Creek (Tennessee, Georgia)
- Chattanooga Creek (Tennessee, Georgia)
- Citico Creek (Tennessee)
- South Chickamauga Creek (Tennessee, Georgia)
- North Chickamauga Creek (Tennessee)
- Hiwassee River (Tennessee, North Carolina)
- Conasauga Creek (Tennessee)
- Ocoee River (Tennessee, Georgia)
- Nottely River (North Carolina, Georgia)
- Piney River (Tennessee)
- Clinch River (Tennessee, Virginia)
- Emory River (Tennessee)
- Little Emory River
- Obed River (Tennessee)
- Poplar Creek
- East Fork Poplar Creek
- Beaver Creek
- Powell River(Tennessee, Virginia)
- Emory River (Tennessee)
- Little Tennessee River (Tennessee, North Carolina)
- Tellico River (Tennessee)
- Tuckasegee River (North Carolina)
- Nantahala River (North Carolina)
- Cullasaja River (North Carolina)
- Little River (Tennessee)
- French Broad River
- Little Pigeon River (Tennessee)
- Nolichucky River (Tennessee, North Carolina)
- Pigeon River(Tennessee, North Carolina)
- Swannanoa River (North Carolina)
- Holston River (Tennessee)
- North Fork Holston River(Tennessee, Virginia)
- South Fork Holston River(Tennessee, Virginia)
- Watauga River (Tennessee, North Carolina)
- Doe River (Tennessee)
- Watauga River (Tennessee, North Carolina)
- Middle Fork Holston River(Virginia)
See also
- List of Alabama rivers
- List of crossings of the Tennessee River
- List of dams and reservoirs of the Tennessee River
- List of Kentucky rivers
- List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem)
- List of Mississippi rivers
- List of Tennessee rivers
- Tennessee River 600
- Tennessee River Valley
- Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
Notes
- ^ a b c d "Tennessee River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. Shooks Gap quadrangle, Tennessee. 1:24,000. 7.5 Minute Series. Washington D.C.: USGS, 1987.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. Paducah East quadrangle, Kentucky. 1:24,000. 7.5 Minute Series. Washington D.C.: USGS, 1982.
- ^ ISBN 0-12-088253-1
- ^ "TVA - Navigation on the Tennessee River". Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4. Archivedfrom the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
- ^ "Tennessee Valley Authority - Preserving Places in Peril". tva.com.
- ^ ORA (Official records, armies): War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies. I, v. 10, p. 24.
- ^ Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, December 25, 2009; updated January 1, 2010; accessed July 14, 2011
- ^ "Georgians thirst to move Tennessee state line". NBC News. February 8, 2008. Archived from the original on July 7, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
- ^ "Desperate for water, Georgia revisits border dispute". February 8, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2008. [dead link]
- ^ "Crossing the Line | Tennessee Bar Association". Tba.org. Archived from the original on July 8, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
- ^ Jones, Andrea (February 20, 2008). "Ga.'s quest to move Tenn. border advances". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved May 14, 2008.
- ^ Dewan, Shaila (February 22, 2008). "Georgia Claims a Sliver of the Tennessee River". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 9, 2011. Retrieved May 14, 2008.
- ^ Group, Sinclair Broadcast. "CHATTANOOGA News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News – WTVC". Archived from the original on July 22, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
- ^ "Tennessee, Georgia at war over state line; battle could go to Supreme Court". March 25, 2013. Archived from the original on March 29, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
- ^ "The Great Georgia-Tennessee Border War of 2013 Is Upon Us". March 25, 2013. Archived from the original on March 27, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
- ^ "U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Tennessee River and Tributaries Small Boat Harbors, Ramps, and Landings". USACE Digital Library. February 2018.
- ^ "Navigation on the Tennessee River". tva.com. TVA. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
- ^ "Chickamauga Lock Addition Project". lrn.usace.army.mil. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
- ^ "Alabama 49-52 Tennessee (October 15th, 2022)". ESPN.com. AP. October 15, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
- ^ a b Freshwater Mussels Archived February 1, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries website, accessed July 14, 2011
- ^ Tennessee Freshwater Mussels Archived March 23, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Frank H. McClung Museum website, accessed July 14, 2011
- ^ a b c d e f g h Alabama Department of Transportation (1997). "County Highway Maps". University of Alabama. Archived from the original (Lizardtech Plugin) on January 30, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2007.
Further reading
- Woodside, M.D. et al. (2004). Water quality in the lower Tennessee River Basin, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Georgia, 1999–2001 [U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1233]. Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
- Myers, Fred (2004). Tennessee River CruiseGuide, 5th Edition
- Hay, Jerry (2010). Tennessee River Guidebook, 1st Edition
- Rumsey, W.J. (2007). A Cruising Guide to the Tennessee River, Tenn-Tom Waterway, and Lower Tombigbee River
External links
- Tennessee Rivers
- Map of Tennessee River in Alabama
- Tennessee River Navigation Charts
- Chickamauga dam progress
- Works related to Tennessee River at Wikisource