The Long Island of the Holston

The Long Island of the Holston is a Tennessee historical marker in Sullivan County.

On Southside of Netherland Inn Road,Holston approximately 80 yards east of Ridgefields Bridge and 15 yds west of entrance driveway down into boat yard Riverfront Parking area.

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

Its west end seen here in the river, the Long Island of the Holston is four miles long. Tennessee's first National Historic Landmark, it was the site of numerous Revolutionary War events. It served as a sacred Cherokee Indian island until ceded to Whites in 1806, long after ceding all land around it. The end of the first wagon road to the Southwest, it was the point of origin for the state's earliest western expansion and the starting point for Boone's Wilderness Road into Kentucky. In 1777, the first July 4 celebration west of the mountains was held on this island near the trading post home of Col. Joseph Martin.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1776 · Map Of North And South Carolina With Their Indian Frontiers. (Northern Section) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1778 · The Western Parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1796 · Kentuckey. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1796 · Map of The Tennassee (sic) Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1797 · Tennassee Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

More markers nearby

The Boat Yardunder 1 mi
Old Kingsport Presbyterian Churchunder 1 mi
Douglass High School2 mi
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