The river appears onFrench 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."[6] By the late 18th century, it had come to be called "Tennessee," a name derived from the Cherokee village namedTanasi.[7][6]
The Tennessee River is formed at the confluence of theHolston andFrench Broad rivers in present-dayKnoxville, Tennessee. From Knoxville, it flows southwest through East Tennessee intoChattanooga, missesGeorgia by about 250 feet (76 m), then crosses intoAlabama. It travels through theHuntsville andDecatur area before reaching theMuscle Shoals area, and eventually forms a small part of the state's border withMississippi, before returning to Tennessee. The Tennessee River's route northerly through Tennessee defines the boundary between two of Tennessee'sGrand Divisions:Middle andWest Tennessee.
TheTennessee–Tombigbee Waterway, aU.S. Army Corps of Engineers project providing a route to Alabama'sTombigbee River and a link to that state'sGulf of Mexico port ofMobile, enters the Tennessee River near the Tennessee-Alabama-Mississippi boundary. This waterway reduces the navigation distance from Tennessee, north Alabama, and northern Mississippi to the Gulf by hundreds of miles. The final part of the Tennessee's run is north through westernKentucky, where it separates theJackson Purchase from the rest of the state. It flows into theOhio River atPaducah, Kentucky.
The river valley was once home to several Native American tribes. AtPainted Bluff, in northeast Alabama, painted glyphs dating toca. 1400 A.D. have been discovered among cliffs overlooking the river.[8]
The first major battles of the American Civil War occurred along the river in 1862. The commander in the western theater, GeneralHenry Halleck, considered the Tennessee River to be more significant than the Mississippi.[9]
Fish catch near Wilson Dam on the Tennessee River around 1940.
The Tennessee River begins at mile post 652, where theFrench Broad River meets theHolston River, but historically there were several different definitions of its starting point. In the late 18th century, the mouth of theLittle Tennessee River (atLenoir 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 ofClinch River (atKingston). An 1889 declaration by theTennessee General Assembly designatedKingsport (on theHolston 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.[6]
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 byUnited 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 unsuccessful attempts in the 1890s, 1905, 1915, 1922, 1941, 1947 and 1971 to resolve what it felt was an erroneous survey line.[12]
According to a story aired onWTVC-TV in Chattanooga on March 14, 2008, a local attorney familiar with case law on border disputes, said the U.S. Supreme Court generally will maintain the original borders between states and avoid stepping into border disputes, preferring the parties work out their differences.[15]
TheChattanooga Times Free Press reported on March 25, 2013, that Georgia senators approved House Resolution 4 stating that if Tennessee declines to settle with them, the dispute will be given to the state attorney general, to take Tennessee before the Supreme Court to settle the issue once and for all.[16]The Atlantic Wire, in commenting on Georgia's actions, stated:[17]
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 atNickajack. Georgia doesn't want Nickajack. It wants that water.
The Tennessee River is an important part of theGreat 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 forriverboats through the South, and today they are frequently used along the river. Major ports include Guntersville,Chattanooga,Decatur, Yellow Creek, andMuscle Shoals. This river has contributed greatly to the economic and industrial development of the Tennessee Valley as a whole. The economies of cities such as Decatur and Chattanooga would not be as dynamic as they are today, were it not for the Tennessee River. Many companies still rely on the river as a means oftransportation for their materials. In Chattanooga, for example,steel is exported on boats, as it is much more efficient than moving it on land.[19]
In addition, locks along the Tennessee River waterway provide passage between reservoirs for more than 13,000 recreational craft each year. TheChickamauga Dam, located just upstream from Chattanooga, was projected in 2014 to have a new lock built, but it has been delayed due to a lack of funding.[20]
In 2022, theTennessee Volunteers football team defeatedAlabama 52–49, their first win inthe series since 2006. Afterward, fans stormed the field and tore down the goalposts, throwing them in the Tennessee River after parading them through the city.[21]
A "pearl"button industry was established in the Tennessee Valley beginning in 1887, producing buttons from the abundant mussel shells. Button production ceased afterWorld War II whenplastics replacedmother-of-pearl as a button material.[24] Mussel populations have declined drastically due to dam construction, water pollution, andinvasive species.[22]
^Townsend, C. Crews; McCoin, Joseph; Parsley, Robert F.; Martin, Alison; Greene, Zachary H. (May 12, 2008)."Crossing the Line".Tennessee Bar Journal.124. Tennessee Bar Association. Archived fromthe original on July 8, 2015. RetrievedJuly 10, 2013.
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
