Category: History
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Where Tennessee Begins
A friend recently observed that the Holston River just upstream of Kingsport cuts across the ridges, carving a circuitous channel and steep bluffs. You can see exactly what he means as you cross the I-81 bridge and look down at the sheer rock faces dropping into the water. But just a few bends later, the…
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Sullivan 250 | From Fort Robinson to Fort Patrick Henry: Building a Defense Network in the Holston Valley
Second in a 12-part monthly series to commemorate Sullivan County’s role in the 250th birthday of the United States of America February 2026 | 2 of 12 As British colonial interests pushed beyond the Appalachians, travel followed established Indigenous routes such as the Warriors’ Path through Virginia’s Great Valley to Long Island of the Holston—an…
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Kingsport: A Tale of Two Cities
Long before it had a name, geography made this place significant. Long Island of the Holston — four miles long and nearly half a mile wide — was a Cherokee sacred ground used for diplomacy. Situated where Reedy Creek meets the Holston River as it bends around Bays Mountain, it anchors a 6,000-acre basin known…
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Don’t Tell Nobody: What Happens When You Bet on an Appalachian
I was saddened to learn of the passing of Roger Ball, the man behind the redevelopment of the Kingsport Mall (now East Stone Commons). Our paths first crossed in 1997. I had just been promoted to Development Services Director at age 35, and Roger had acquired one of Kingsport’s most prominent development sites at the…
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Sullivan 250 | Long Island of the Holston: Where the Frontier Converged (1 of 12)
First in a 12-part monthly series to commemorate Sullivan County’s role in the 250th birthday of the United States of America Before Sullivan County existed, before Tennessee had a name, there was Long Island of the Holston. Lying along a broad bend of the Holston River near present-day Kingsport, the island and its surrounding flats…
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Sullivan County’s Full Potential
Why City Residents Should Care Sullivan County plays a critical role in the lives of city residents, even if it can sometimes feel distant from Blountville, our collective county seat. That sense of distance is amplified by scale. The decennial census is the baseline used nationwide to establish voting precincts. In 2020, Sullivan County had…
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Before Jamestown: The Forgotten Road Between Beaufort and Appalachia
We’ve spent quite a bit of time in Beaufort, South Carolina, in recent years because of our connection to the beaches of nearby Fripp Island. We fell in love with Beaufort because it offers much of the history and charm of Charleston or Savannah, but on a far more human scale. With fewer than 15,000…
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Powdered Wigs and Coonskin Caps
I found myself thinking about the inaugural nonstop flight from TRI Airport to Washington Dulles in Northern Virginia—and about my daughter-in-law being on that very first plane, returning home with photos of our nation’s capital glowing in Christmas lights. The Capitol dome was illuminated, and monuments stood lit against the winter sky. It was a…
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Church Circle: Kingsport’s Town Square
There’s just something about town squares. They are the settings of Hallmark movies and Christmas cards—the places where parades pass, lights are lit, and communities recognize themselves. They evoke warm memories of home, family, faith, and belonging. A true town square is not just a location; it is an emotional center, a shared reference point…
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1948: Appeal to the Great Spirit
Do you ever see a photograph that triggers a memory? Recently, I discovered that Ancestry.com has digitized many of our nation’s yearbooks. In the process, I stumbled on the 1948 Maroon & Grey—my mother’s final yearbook at Dobyns-Bennett. It offers a remarkable window into student life in that era. Twenty school years later, in 1967–68,…
Kingsport Spirit 