Clinch Mountain

Last updated
Clinch Mountain
Clinch-mountain-25-tn1.jpg
U.S. Route 25 on Clinch Mountain, c.2008
Highest point
Elevation 4,689 ft (1,429 m)(Beartown Mountain summit)
Coordinates 36°26′N82°58′W / 36.433°N 82.967°W / 36.433; -82.967
Geography
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Clinch Mountain
USA Tennessee relief location map.svg
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Clinch Mountain
Clinch Mountain (Tennessee)
Parent range Appalachian Mountains, Ridge-and-valley Appalachians
Climbing
First ascent 1775 by Daniel Boone and William Bean [1]
Easiest route US 25E/SR 32 in Grainger County, Tennessee

Clinch Mountain is a mountain ridge in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Virginia, lying in the ridge-and-valley section of the Appalachian Mountains. From its southern terminus at Kitts Point, which lies at the intersection of Knox, Union and Grainger counties near Blaine, Tennessee, it runs in a generally east-northeasterly direction to Garden Mountain near Burke's Garden, Virginia. It separates the Clinch River basin to the north and the Holston River basin to the south.

Contents

Geography

Clinch Mountain is a long ridge, about 150 miles (240 km) in length, and because of its size it is sometimes called a mountain range or complex. It runs generally southwest-northeast, with numerous curves. Its north-south extent is 97 miles (156 km), and its east-west extent is 172 miles (277 km). The ridge includes the sub-range of Knob Mountain, as well as four summits above 4,000 feet (Beartown Mountain, Flattop Mountain, Morris Knob, and Chimney Rock Peak).

For its entire length, Clinch Mountain has only one true gap through which the ridge is completely sliced in half and continues as Clinch Mountain on either side, divided by Big Moccasin Creek. It is named Moccasin Gap and runs between Weber City and Gate City, Virginia. The Norfolk Southern Railway and U.S. Highways 23-58-421 utilize that gap because there is no elevation in the division of the mountain.

When U.S. Highway 25E was realigned into a four-lane highway northwest of Bean Station, Tennessee, in the 1980s, it was necessary to cut a new gap into the top of Clinch Mountain, which lowered the original gap elevation by 200 feet. That realignment, along with the lowering of Interstate 26-U.S. Highway 23 at Sams Gap on the Tennessee-North Carolina border, are the only instances of a highway gap in Tennessee actually lowering an original gap where a state or federal highway was built through. (Sams Gap was lowered by 150 feet to accommodate Interstate 26).

History

Clinch Mountain is named after the Clinch River, which was named after an 18th-century explorer. [2] The earliest known reference to the name is in the 18th-century journal of Thomas Walker: "Clinch's River, from one Clinch a hunter." [3] The Wilderness Road to the Cumberland Gap crossed Clinch Mountain at Moccasin Gap.

Signal Point peak situated near Kitts Point, the southern terminus of Clinch Mountain, was used to signal troops during the Civil War. The mountains along the Clinch Mountain ridge played an important role in the Battle of Bean's Station.

The mountains in Grainger County, Tennessee, had prominence in the late 19th century when the mineral springs in the area drew notable visitors from around the globe. Tate Springs, as the town and resort were named, included a hotel, golf course and mineral baths. The seasonal resort even had its own spur on the railroad, so visitors could easily make the trip from all over the country. Notable guests included the Fords, Studebakers, Mellons, Firestones and Rockefellers. Because of a devastating fire and the Great Depression, only a few buildings survive today.

In the 1970s through the 1980s, plans for a 75-mile-long hiking trail system known as the Trail of the Lonesome Pine were proposed to run along the ridgeline of Clinch Mountain from the Tennessee-Virginia state line in Hancock County to its terminus in Grainger County. The plans were met with extreme opposition from unwilling property owners, particularly those from Grainger County, as the project would be nearly complete in the Hawkins and Hancock portions of the trail system. With the unwillingness from Grainger County property owners, the trail system would be abandoned all-together in 1981 despite the completion of construction outside of Grainger County. [4]

"Way Up on Clinch Mountain," a folk song based on a 17th-century Scottish ballad, was recorded by Woody Guthrie as "Rye Whiskey," and is included in Carl Sandburg's American Songbag . The song is credited by him with inspiring the legion of "Bang Bang Lulu" variants. [5] The Carter Family immortalized the American mountain in their 1928 "My Clinch Mountain Home." A fiddle tune called "Clinch Mountain Backstep" (attributed to Ralph Stanley ) is in the Appalachian folk repertoire.

Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, produced an original work in 2018 based on several individuals and families from this area. Bloodroot: The Ballad of Clinch Mountain, was created by the Women's Writing Project at Liberty. The play is based on actual events ranging from the 18th to the 20th century. Characters include Mary Draper Ingles, Orelena Hawks Puckett, the Carter family, and several others of note.

Crossings

The following crossings of Clinch Mountain can be made, from southwest to northeast:

Tennessee
Virginia

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grainger County, Tennessee</span> County in Tennessee, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claiborne County, Tennessee</span> County in Tennessee, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">French Broad River</span> River in North Carolina and Tennessee, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 25</span> Highway in the United States

U.S. Route 25 or U.S. Highway 25 (US 25) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs for 750 miles (1,210 km) in the Southern and Midwestern U.S. Its southern terminus is in Brunswick, Georgia, from where it proceeds mostly due north, passing through the cities of Augusta, Georgia; Greenville, South Carolina; and Asheville, North Carolina, before dividing into two branches, known as US 25W and US 25E between Newport, Tennessee, and North Corbin, Kentucky. After passing through Richmond and Lexington, Kentucky, it reaches its northern terminus at Ohio state line in Covington, Kentucky. The route is an important crossing of the Appalachian Mountains, and it is covered by three of the corridors of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS). When the highway was originally established in 1926, the route extended from North Augusta, South Carolina, to Port Huron, Michigan. The southern end was extended to its current terminus in 1936, while the northern end was truncated in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bean Station, Tennessee</span> Lakeside town in Grainger and Hawkins counties, Tennessee

Bean Station is a town in Grainger and Hawkins counties in the state of Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,967. It is part of the Kingsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area, and Morristown metropolitan statistical area. Established in 1776 as a frontier outpost by pioneer William Bean, it is considered one of the earliest permanently settled communities in Tennessee. It grew throughout the rest of the 18th and 19th centuries as an important stopover for early pioneers and settlers in the Appalachia region due to its strategic location at the crossroads of Daniel Boone's Wilderness Road and the Great Indian Warpath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 11W</span> Suffixed section of U.S. Highway in Tennessee and Virginia in the United States

U.S. Route 11W (US 11W) is the western branch of US 11 from the twin cities of Bristol, Tennessee/Bristol, Virginia, where US 11 splits into US 11E and US 11W, to Knoxville, Tennessee, where the two highways rejoin. The highway serves the Appalachia region's Ridge-and-Valley section of East Tennessee, bounded by the Clinch Mountain ridge to the north and the Holston River to the south. US 11W from Bristol to Bean Station and Blaine to Knoxville are designated as part of the National Highway System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 25E</span> Highway in Tennessee and Kentucky, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 421 in Virginia</span> Segment of American highway

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 23 in Virginia</span> Segment of American highway

U.S. Route 23 (US 23) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Jacksonville, Florida, to Mackinaw City, Michigan. In Virginia, the U.S. Highway runs 60.80 miles (97.85 km) from the Tennessee state line near Weber City north to the Kentucky state line near Pound. US 23, which is known as Orby Cantrell Highway for most of its course, is a four-lane divided highway that follows Corridor B of the Appalachian Development Highway System through Southwest Virginia. The U.S. Highway serves as the main east–west highway of Scott County and the primary north–south highway of Wise County. US 23 runs concurrently with US 58 from Weber City to Duffield and with US 58 Alternate between Big Stone Gap and the independent city of Norton.

Powell Mountain is a mountain ridge of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians of the Appalachian Mountains. It is a long and narrow ridge, running northeast to southwest, from about Norton, Virginia, to near Tazewell, Tennessee. It separates the Clinch River basin and the Powell River basin of Powell Valley. It was named for an 18th-century explorer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia State Route 16</span> State highway in western Virginia, US

State Route 16 is a primary state highway in the southwest part of the U.S. state of Virginia. It runs from the North Carolina border at North Carolina Highway 16 north to the West Virginia border at West Virginia Route 16, passing through the towns of Troutdale, Marion, and Tazewell. Highway 16 is part of a three-state route 16 that connects the Charlotte region with northwestern West Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia State Route 91</span> State highway in western Virginia, US

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 19 in Virginia</span> State highway in Virginia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holston Mountain</span> Mountain in United States of America

Holston Mountain is a mountain ridge in Upper East Tennessee and southwest Virginia, in the United States. It is in the Blue Ridge Mountains part of the Appalachian Mountains. Holston Mountain is a very prominent ridge-type mountain in Tennessee's Ridge and Valley Region, about 28 miles (45 km) long, running from southwest to northeast, covering about 268 square miles (690 km2). Its highest summit is Holston High Point, on which a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aircraft navigational beacon is located, at an elevation of 4,280 feet (1,300 m) above mean sea level. The second and third highest points are Rye Patch Knob, at 4,260 feet (1,300 m) above mean sea level and Rich Knob, at 4,240 above mean sea level respectively. The fourth highest point is Holston High Knob where an old dismantled Cherokee National Forest fire tower marks the elevation at 4,136 feet (1,261 m) above mean sea level.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moccasin Gap</span>

Moccasin Gap, also known as Big Moccasin Gap, is a pass in Clinch Mountain, a long ridge within the Appalachian Mountains, at Gate City, Virginia. This gap has a long history as a passageway through the mountain. It was used by the Cherokee and Shawnee, and was the first gap through which the Daniel Boone Wilderness Road passed on its way to the better-known Cumberland Gap and Kentucky. Today it serves as a primary commercial route for industry, retail, and tourism businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joppa, Tennessee</span> Unincorporated community in Tennessee, United States

Joppa is an unincorporated community in rural central-western Grainger County, Tennessee, United States. It rests below Joppa Mountain, a subrange located near the southern terminus of the 150 mile (240 km) long Clinch Mountain ridge complex, offering views of five U.S. States and the Great Smoky Mountains. Joppa is part of the Morristown, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area, and also a component of the Knoxville-Morristown-Sevierville Combined Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Bean</span> Tennessees first permanent European-American settler (1721-1782)

William Bean was an American pioneer, longhunter, and Commissioner of the Watauga Association. He is accepted by historians as the first permanent European American settler of Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tennessee State Route 32</span> State unsigned highway in Tennessee

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Tennessee Crossing Byway</span> National Scenic Byway in East Tennessee

The East Tennessee Crossing Byway is a 83-mile (134 km) National Scenic Byway in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Established in 2009, it is one of the newest byways in the National Scenic Byway system. The scenic byway traverses mostly along an unsigned concurrency of U.S. Route 25E/State Route 32 (US 25E/SR 32) in East Tennessee.

References

  1. Coffey, Ken (October 19, 2012). "The First Family of Tennessee". Grainger County Historic Society. Thomas Daugherty. Archived from the original on March 20, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  2. Collins, Lewis (1877). History of Kentucky. p. 416.
  3. Stewart, p.146
  4. Brooks, David (September 30, 1984). "Opposition may doom Clinch Mountain trail". Kingsport Times-News . Retrieved May 12, 2021 via Newspapers.com.
  5. Sandburg, Carl. American Songbag, pp.307 ff. 1927. Accessed 13 Jan 2014.