Long Island (Tennessee)

Infobox_nrhp | name =Long Island of the Holston
nrhp_type = nhld


caption =
nearest_city= Kingsport, Tennessee
lat_degrees = 36
lat_minutes = 31
lat_seconds = 49
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 82
long_minutes = 33
long_seconds = 39
long_direction = W
locmapin = Tennessee
area = 840 acres
built =1760
architect=
architecture=
designated= October 9, 1960cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=550&ResourceType=District
title=Long Island of the Holston |accessdate=2008-07-01|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = October 15, 1966cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = Private
refnum=66000733

Long Island, also known as Long Island of the Holston, is an island in the Holston River at Kingsport in eastern Tennessee. The Long Island was a sacred council and treaty site among the Cherokee. Daniel Boone began from here to clear the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap in 1775. It is a U.S. National Historic Landmark District. The island has been heavily transformed by industrial development, and NPS staff recommended withdrawal of National Historic Landmark status in 1996 due to loss of historic integrity.

The name "Tennessee" originated from the old Yuchi Indian word, "Tana-see," meaning "The Meeting Place," which refers to The Long Island of the Holston River.Fact|date=April 2008

The Long Island of the Holston River was an important site for the Cherokee, colonial pioneers, and early settlers. Early settlements at the site were used as a staging ground for people following the Wilderness Road to Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap. First chartered in 1822, Kingsport became an important shipping port on the Holston River. Goods originating for many miles from the surrounding countryside were loaded onto barges for transport downstream to the Tennessee River at Knoxville. The young town lost its charter after a downturn its in fortunes precipitated by the Civil War.Fact|date=April 2008

Long Island of the Holston was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/66000733.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Long Island of the Holston] |32 KB|date=June 4, 1976 |author=Frank B. Sarles, Jr., and Polly M. Rettig |publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/66000733.pdf "Accompanying seven photos, from 1958, 1972, and 1975"] |32 KB]

Long Island's modern population peaked "between 1955 and 1963, with 517 residences and approximately 1,800 people. Although many upstanding citizens lived on Long Island, the neighborhood acquired a local reputation for violence and bootlegging."cite web|url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=L048
title=Long Island |author=Patricia Bernard Ezzell |accessdate=2008-07-01|work=Tennessee Encyclopedia on-line article |publisher=Tennessee Historical Society]

There are only a handful of houses on the island now. About half of Long Island now contains a park administered by the City of Kingsport. The other half of the island is the site of a waste treatment plant owned by Tennessee Eastman Chemical Company. Most of the island is within the corporate boundaries of Kingsport.Fact|date=April 2008

References and further reading

*Long, Howard. Kingsport: A Romance of Industry. Overmountain Press (October 1993)
*Moore, J.S. Understanding Apples. Outskirts Press (October 2006)
*Moore, JS. Gathering Leaves. Outskirts Poress (April 2008)
*Spoden, Muriel M.C. Kingsport Heritage: The Early Years, 1700 to 1900. Johnson City, TN: The Overmountain Press, 1991
*Spoden, Muriel Millar Clark . The Long Island of the Holston: Sacred island of the Cherokee nation
*Williams, "Fort Robinson on the Holston," East Tennessee Historical Society Publications, no.4 (1932)
*Williams, Samuel C. Dawn of Tennessee Valley and Tennessee History (Johnson City, 1937)
*Williams, Tennessee During the Revolutionary War (Nashville, 1944)
*Wolfe, Margaret Ripley. Kingsport Tennessee: A Planned American City. University Press of Kentucky (November 1987)

External links

* [http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/colonials-patriots/sitec54.htm LONG ISLAND OF THE HOLSTON, Tennessee] , National Park Service