The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the
Great Appalachian Valley
The Great Appalachian Valley, also called The Great Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough—a chain of valley lowlands—and the central feature of the Appalachian M ...
in the U.S. states of
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
and
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, gathering various
tributaries
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...
, including the
Powell River, before joining the
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...
in
Kingston, Tennessee
Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Roane County, Tennessee, United States. This city is thirty-six miles southwest of Knoxville. It had a population of 5,934 at the 2010 United States census, and is included in the Harriman Micropolit ...
.
Course
The Clinch River is dammed twice: by
Norris Dam
Norris Dam is a hydroelectric and flood control structure located on the Clinch River in Anderson County and Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. The dam was the first major project for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which had been creat ...
, the first
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
built by the
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA); and by the
Melton Hill Dam
Melton Hill Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Clinch River just south of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1960s to extend the Tennessee Valley's continuo ...
, the only TVA dam with a
navigation lock
A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...
that is not located on the main channel of the Tennessee River.
An important tributary of the Clinch River is the
Powell River. The Clinch and Powell River drainage basins are separated by
Powell Mountain
Powell Mountain (or "Powells 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 ...
. Tributaries entering the Clinch River below
Norris Dam
Norris Dam is a hydroelectric and flood control structure located on the Clinch River in Anderson County and Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. The dam was the first major project for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which had been creat ...
but above
Melton Hill Dam
Melton Hill Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Clinch River just south of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1960s to extend the Tennessee Valley's continuo ...
include
Coal Creek, Hinds Creek, Bull Run Creek, and
Beaver Creek.
Poplar Creek enters the river below the Melton Hill Dam.
History
A
peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
located at the mouth of the Clinch River, called Southwest Point, was the site of an
early frontier fort which has been recently reconstructed. This site was important to
Native Americans. A treaty between the
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
s and the white settlers was signed at Southwest Point, allowing the capital of Tennessee to be moved there. The
Tennessee General Assembly
The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title ...
fulfilled this requirement technically by meeting in Kingston for one day, and then voting to move the
capital city
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...
elsewhere.
Clinch was the name of an 18th-century explorer of the area. Former variations of the name included "Clinch's River", "Clench River", "Clinches River" and "
Fiume
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
Clinchs".
Folk etymology
Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...
, however, provides a more colorful account: the river received its name after a pioneer fell into it, and shouted "Clinch me! Clinch me!", supposedly meaning "clench me" or "grab me". An older name for the river, which appears on some early maps, was the "Pelisipi River", with such variant spellings as "Pelisippi" and "Pellissippi", and the variant form "Fiume Pelissipi".
In fact, the
Mitchell Map
The Mitchell Map is a map made by John Mitchell (1711–1768), which was reprinted several times during the second half of the 18th century. The map, formally titled ''A map of the British and French dominions in North America'' &c., was used ...
(1755–1757) labels a tributary of the "Pelisipi River" as "Clinch's River". The word "Pellissippi" was long said to have been the
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
s' name for the river and was purported to mean "winding waters" in the
Cherokee language
200px, Number of speakers
Cherokee or Tsalagi ( chr, ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, ) is an endangered-to-moribund Iroquoian language and the native language of the Cherokee people. ''Ethnologue'' states that there were 1,520 Cherokee speaker ...
. However, research completed in 2017 instead concludes that the
Miami-Illinois
Miami-Illinois (endonym: , ) also known as Irenwa, or Irenwe is an indigenous Algonquian language spoken in the United States, primarily in Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, western Ohio and adjacent areas along the Mississippi River by the Miami a ...
name ("river of the
Mosopelea
The Mosopelea, or Ofo, were a Siouan-speaking Native American people who historically inhabited the upper Ohio River. In reaction to Iroquois Confederacy invasions to take control of hunting grounds in the late 17th century, they moved south to t ...
" tribe) was first applied to what is now called the
Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
. Shortened in the
Shawnee language
The Shawnee language is a Central Algonquian language spoken in parts of central and northeastern Oklahoma by the Shawnee people. It was originally spoken by these people in a broad territory throughout the Eastern United States, mostly north of ...
to , or , the name evolved through other variant forms such as "Polesipi", "Peleson", "Pele Sipi" and "Pere Sipi", and eventually stabilized to the "Pelisipi/Pelisippi/Pellissippi" form; these names were variously applied back and forth between the Ohio and Clinch rivers. The name Pellissippi has been used in
proper names
A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa'', ''Jupiter'', '' Sarah'', ''Microsoft)'' as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, ...
throughout East Tennessee, for example in
Pellissippi Parkway
The Pellissippi Parkway is a major highway in Knox and Blount counties in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Tennessee that extends from State Route 62 at Solway to SR 33 in Alcoa. It provides access to the cities of Oak Ridg ...
and
Pellissippi State Community College
Pellissippi State Community College (Pellissippi State) is a public community college based in Knox and Blount counties in Tennessee. It is operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. The college's main campus is located in west Knox County. T ...
.
A power plant sits on the Clinch River at Carbo in
Russell County, Virginia. It was completed in 1957, and it is owned by
Appalachian Power
American Electric Power (AEP), (railcar reporting mark: AEPX) is a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States, delivering electricity to more than five million customers in 11 states.
AEP ranks among the nation's largest gen ...
, a part of
American Electric Power
American Electric Power (AEP), (railcar reporting mark: AEPX) is a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States, delivering electricity to more than five million customers in 11 states.
AEP ranks among the nation's largest gen ...
(AEP). The plant was converted from burning coal to natural gas in 2016. The
Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center
The Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center (VCHEC) is a power station located in St. Paul, in Wise County, Virginia. It is operated by Dominion Virginia Power, Dominion Resources Inc.'s electric distribution company in Virginia. The 600 MW plant bega ...
, another coal-fired power plant that began operations in 2012, is a few miles away outside
St. Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
in
Wise County, Virginia
Wise County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county was formed in 1856 from Lee, Scott, and Russell Counties and named for Henry A. Wise, who was the Governor of Virginia at the time.
History
The Cherokee conquered the ...
. It is owned by
Dominion Virginia Power
Dominion Energy, Inc., commonly referred to as Dominion, is a North American power and energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and supplies natural gas ...
.
Pollution from mining in the region has caused great concern among environmentalists because several rare species inhabit the river. Some
mussel
Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...
s were reintroduced to the
Cleveland, Virginia
Cleveland is a town in central Russell County, Virginia, Russell County, Virginia, United States. The population was 128 at the 2010 census.
History
Jessees Mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Geography
Clevelan ...
area from outside the state in the early 2000s after pollution in the 20th century wiped out much of the population.
In 2008,
a large release of
fly ash
Fly ash, flue ash, coal ash, or pulverised fuel ash (in the UK) plurale tantum: coal combustion residuals (CCRs)is a coal combustion product that is composed of the particulates (fine particles of burned fuel) that are driven out of coal-fired ...
from the TVA's
Kingston Fossil Plant
Kingston Fossil Plant, commonly known as Kingston Steam Plant, is a 1.4-gigawatt (1,398 megawatt, MW) coal-fired power plant located in Roane County, Tennessee, Roane County, just outside Kingston, Tennessee on the shore of Watts Bar Lake. It is o ...
deposited 2.6 million pounds of fly ash in the lower section of the river below the confluence of the
Emory River
The Emory River is a river draining a portion of Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau. It flows for just over from its source near Frozen Head State Park to its mouth along the Clinch River at Kingston, Tennessee.
Hydrography
The Emory River rises on ...
. Although at first the TVA began cleaning the ash out of the river, in 2009 the EPA took over and finished removing coal ash in 2010. The release of coal ash in rivers has been shown to result in increased sedimentation and the exposure of trace elements to aquatic organisms. A study done several months after the spill revealed that the river had increased amounts of trace metals such as mercury and arsenic. A study done a year after the spill showed that there was a possibility of food web accumulation of
methylmercury
Methylmercury (sometimes methyl mercury) is an organometallic cation with the formula . It is the simplest organomercury compound. Methylmercury is extremely toxic, and its derivatives are the major source of organic mercury for humans. It is a ...
but this had not yet been shown.
Ecology
The Clinch River above
Clinton, Tennessee
Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, Tennessee, United States. Clinton is included in the Knoxville metropolitan area. Its population was 10,056 at the 2020 census.
History
Prehistoric Native American habitation was n ...
(tailwaters of Norris Dam) is stocked with
rainbow trout
The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...
and
brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...
by the
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) is an independent state agency of the state of Tennessee with the mission of managing the state's fish and wildlife and their habitats, as well as responsibility for all wildlife-related law enforcem ...
.
Before being dammed, the Clinch River was a major producer of freshwater
mussel
Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...
s and
pearls
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living animal shell, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pea ...
. The rivers of the southern
Appalachians
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
are still notable for their unusually rich mussel biodiversity. The mussels were an important food source for Native Americans and were later used by settlers as
bait and
hog feed. The freshwater pearl industry thrived throughout the southern Appalachians in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The Clinch River and the
Emory River
The Emory River is a river draining a portion of Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau. It flows for just over from its source near Frozen Head State Park to its mouth along the Clinch River at Kingston, Tennessee.
Hydrography
The Emory River rises on ...
were considered the economic heart of the pearl industry, and the state of Tennessee was one of the top six states in the United States for pearl production. The mussel-based industries began to decline in the early 20th century and were effectively eliminated by the dams built by the TVA. The first major Tennessee River dam was
Wilson Dam
Wilson Dam is a dam spanning the Tennessee River between Lauderdale County and Colbert County in the U.S. state of Alabama. Completed in 1924 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, it impounds Wilson Lake, and is one of nine Tennessee Va ...
, built at a site known as
Muscle Shoals
Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the populati ...
, which could refer to the freshwater mussels of the region (the shoals could also be named for the exertion necessary to move river traffic across them).
Norris Dam
Norris Dam is a hydroelectric and flood control structure located on the Clinch River in Anderson County and Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. The dam was the first major project for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which had been creat ...
and
Norris Lake on the Clinch River flooded one of the other areas of mussel near Young's Island.
[Davis, Donald Edward. "Where There Are Mountains, An Environmental History of the Southern Appalachians". University of Georgia Press: 2005.]
Recreation
There are several state and local parks along the Clinch River in both Tennessee and Virginia.
State Parks in Tennessee include:
*
Big Ridge State Park
*
Norris Dam State Park
Norris Dam State Park is a state park in Anderson County and Campbell County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park is situated along the shores of Norris Lake, an impoundment of the Clinch River created by the completion of Norr ...
*
Chuck Swan State Forest
Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to:
People
Arts and entertainment
* Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet
* Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer
* C ...
See also
*
List of rivers of Tennessee
This is a list of rivers of the U.S. state of Tennessee:
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. All rivers in Tennessee ultimately flow to the Gulf of Mex ...
*
List of rivers of Virginia
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Virginia.
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries, arranged in the order of their confluence from mouth to source, indented under each larger stream's nam ...
References
External links
Columbia Gazetteer of North America*
Pellissippi Blueway*
{{authority control
Rivers of Tennessee
Rivers of Virginia
Tributaries of the Tennessee River
Rivers of Anderson County, Tennessee
Rivers of Tazewell County, Virginia
Rivers of Russell County, Virginia
Rivers of Wise County, Virginia
Rivers of Hancock County, Tennessee
Rivers of Claiborne County, Tennessee
Rivers of Grainger County, Tennessee