Tag: american revolution
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Sullivan 250 | July 1776 at Island Flats: When Independence Reached the Holston
Third in a 12-part monthly series to commemorate Sullivan County’s role in the 250th birthday of the United States of America March 2026 | 3 of 12 In July 1776, independence was declared in Philadelphia. Along the Holston River near Island Flats, it arrived as a crisis. The Battle of Island Flats, also called the Battle…
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The Founding Father Hidden in Kingsport’s Land Records
I find tidbits of Kingsport history in the most unexpected places. This week, it came from a Retired Police Officers magazine out of Long Island, New York, where Kingsport has quietly placed a small ad for years. Inside was an article on the burning of Norfolk in 1776, and there, in the middle of that…
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How Our Region Shaped the Course of the American Revolution
Mark your calendars for 6pm, April 9, at the Kingsport Center for Higher Education (invitation attached) as the Friends of Kingsport Archives and Sullivan 250 committee present “The Overmountain Men” in honor of America’s 250th birthday celebration. Imagine living in our region before it was officially the United States of America. In 1761, the Virginia…
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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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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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Tennessee in 10 Minutes
I was recently talking with colleagues about the early development of modern Tennessee and why the first counties were incorporated in two pockets: East Tennessee along the upper Tennessee Valley and Middle Tennessee along the Cumberland River basin, initially leapfrogging Southeast Tennessee and the Cumberland Plateau. I couldn’t find a succinct description, so I decided…
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Loose Ends
Last week, I had the opportunity to hear Ben Harris’ presentation to the Kingsport Historical Society entitled “Loose Ends”-and it really cleared up some loose ends for me. 2025 is the 250th anniversary of the Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail, which came right through Kingsport. Ben did a great job peeling back the layers and explaining…
Kingsport Spirit 