Kingsport, Tennessee

Kingsport is a city in Sullivan, Hawkins and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population according to the 2010 census is 48,205.

Kingsport is the largest city in the Kingsport–Bristol–Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which had a population of 309,544 as of 2010. The Metropolitan Statistical Area is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region. Census data from 2006–2008 for the Tri-Cities Combined Statistical Area estimates a population of 496,454.

Kingsport is commonly included in what is known as the Mountain Empire, which spans a portion of Southwest Virginia and the mountainous counties in Tennessee to the east. The name "Kingsport" is a simplification of "King's Port", originally referring to the area on the Holston River known as King's Boat Yard, the head of navigation for the Tennessee Valley.

History

The North and South Forks of the Holston River converge on the west end of what is now Kingsport, and the town itself was known in 1787 as "Salt Lick" along the banks of the South Fork, about a mile from the confluence. The Long Island of the Holston River is near the confluence, which is mostly within the corporate boundaries of Kingsport. The island was an important site for the Cherokee, colonial pioneers and early settlers, specifically mentioned in the 1770 Treaty of Lochaber. Early settlements at the site were used as a staging ground for people taking the Wilderness Road leading to Kentucky through 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 the journey downriver to the Tennessee River at Knoxville.