The Name Kingsport :: Kingsport Tennessee
James King, William King
Kingsport Receives Its Name
*** UPDATE See new historical update showing William King is how Kingsport got its name. March 18 2021 Follow This Link
'Kingsport The Romance of Industry' by Howard Long 1928 p.36-41
MANY towns experience, at some time in their
existence, a change of name. There are few,
however, which have had such a wide variety of
appellations to choose from as Kingsport. The
Indians probably knew it by the synonym, in
their dialect, of Peace Island, or Big Island. The
early white explorers also referred to it as Peace
Island, Big Island, and Long Island, and the his-
toric, three-mile-long island in the Holston still
bears the latter name.
In the early days Kingsport also bore the name
of Island Flats, and the Indian battle fought on
the site of the present city has gone down in
history by that name.
About the same time the place was called Fort
Robinson and Fort Patrick Henry for the forts,
bearing successively these two names, which were
located there. Be it understood, of course, that in
those days it was not a town-not even a village
-though it has always occupied a position of
historical significance.
Later, for brief successive periods, it bore the
name of Christiansville and Rossville in compli
ment, respectively, to Gilbert Christian, who pur
chased a large tract of land there and plotted it
for a town, and Dr. Frederick A. Ross, who
established Rotherwood. Each of these men holds
an important position in the town's history.
In the early part of the nineteenth century
there was considerable growth and business ac
tivity in the village which is now known as Old
Kingsport, and is one of the suburbs of the city
of today. Shipping down the river from this
point in flatboats assumed proportions of impor
tance, and many boats were made and launched
there. It was then, quite naturally, given the
name of Boat Yard-a name which it bore until
its present name of Kingsport was finally
adopted.
|
The name "Kingsport" was accepted late in
the eighteenth century, probably about 1774 or a
few years later, and since its adoption all of the
other names have become simply a matter of his
tory. The town was named, not for King George
of England, as many have supposed, but for Col.
James King, who established a mill at the mouth
of Reedy Creek in 1774, and who later used the
port of Boat Yard extensively for the shipping of
iron, bacon, salt, and other commodities to towns
down the Holston and Tennessee rivers. In con
sequence of this the port became known as
"King's Port," later contracted to "Kingsport."
| |
|
"Dunmore's War," by Twaite and Kellogg,
says briefly, "King's Mill Station was at the
mouth of Reedy Creek, near the present site of
Kingaport, Sullivan County, Tennessee, in the
year 1774.
Thomas W. Preston, in his "Historical Sketches
of the Holston Valleys, " amplifies this statement
with a brief sketch of the activities of Col. James
King, in which he says: "James King, after
whom Kingsport was named, the first of the name
to seek his fortune in America, was born in Lon
don in 1752. He first settled in Montgomery
County, Virginia, but was attracted by accounts
of the beautiful and fertile valleys of the Holston.
He moved to Sullivan County, Tennessee, prob
ably prior to 1774, and built a mill at the mouth
of Reedy Creek, which was known as King's
Mill. He served in the Point Pleasant campaign
in Captain Pauling's company of Botetourt
troops. He also served in a number of battles
during the Revolutionary War and was wounded
at Guilford Courthouse. He recovered from his
wound and was present at the surrender of Corn
wallis at Yorktown. He was an ardent patriot,
a man of considerable initiative, and rendered
valiant service to the colonies. In 1784 he built
an iron furnace at the mouth of Steele's Creek
in Sullivan County. This was the first iron fur
nace erected in the state of Tennessee."
Associated with Col. King in the operation of
this iron furnace was William Blount, first terri
torial governor of Tennessee and the man for
whom Blountville, the county seat of Sullivan
County, was named. A great part of the products
of this furnace, iron and castings, found a market
down-state. They were hauled to Kingsport in
wagons and from there were shipped down the
river in boats.
Some historians, while agreeing that Kingsport
was named for a Mr. King, are inclined to
think this man was William King, of
Abingdon, owner of the salt works north of that
town, rather than Col. James King. Chancellor
John Allison, in a brief historical sketch of the
town, says: "The change of name from 'Boat
Yard' to 'King's Port' was not in honor of
King George, but because of the heavy ship
ments of salt from there by Mr. King, who at that
period owned and operated the 'Salt Works'
over in Virginia, north of Abingdon, the salt be
ing hauled from the works in the old fashioned
four and six horse road wagons, down the Reedy
Creek road, and this method of transportation of
salt continued until the construction of the 'Vir
gania and Tennessee' (now Norfolk and West
ern) railroad."
The "Mr. King" here referred to was probably
William King, and it is possible that his activities
at the little river port may have been combined
with those of Col. James King in giving Kings
port its name.
...[ In 1795, William King, an Irish immigrant, moved into the Saltville Valley, purchased 150 acres, built a log house (the King Stuart House) and began to manufacture salt. The first salt mine in the United Stated was sunk by him in 1799 on a site 200 yards northwest of his house. This endeavor soon failed due to seepage of water into the mine. King then resorted to the evaporation of salt water in a series of large kettles. Brine from this shaft supplied the Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Carolina, Virginia and Scott Furnaces during the War Between the States. King's name and memory are perpetuated today in the William King Arts Center in Abingdon and the City of Kingsport, which was originally spelled King's Port. In 1802, King purchased a landing there where salt from Saltville was unloaded from rafts onto flatboats to be sent on down the Tennessee River.
http://www.saltvilleva.com/notable_citizens.htm
]
The manner in which the Holston River re
ceived its name is also a matter of historic inter
est. This river was called "Cherokee," and
"Coot-cla" or "Cootelaw," by the Cherokee In
dians, down as far as its junction with the French
Broad. Late in the eighteenth century, however,
probably about 1761, an adventurous pioneer by
the name of Stephen Holston paddled his canoe
down the stream, and it later was named for him.
When Sullivan County was established by the
erection of the boundary lines in 1779, the first
county seat was located at Heaton's Station, on
the lower slope of Eden's Ridge, or what is now
more commonly called Chestnut Ridge, and about
four miles from the present site of Kingsport.
The official organization of the county took place
February 7, 1780. The county seat remained at
Heaton's Station for six years, or until 1786.
Blountville, the second oldest town in the state
of Tennessee, was made the county seat of Sulli
van in 1795.
For several generations the people of Long
Island, the present site of Kingaport, hardly
knew to what state they belonged. First the ter
ritory was regarded as a part of Virginia, then
a part of North Carolina. When the ill fated
State of Franklin was organized the section was,
of course, a part of it. It was not until 1802 that
a compromise line was definitely established be
tween Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee.
This line, definitely and for all time, placed
Kingsport in the state of Tennessee.
*** UPDATE See new historical update showing William King is how Kingsport got its name. March 18 2021 Follow This Link
