Many of the early families traveled by the rivers. Roane County has two major rivers that meet at Kingston.

The Tennessee River is a collection of rivers. The North and Middle forks of the Holston River combine in Virginia and flow into Tennessee north of Kingsport. East of Kingsport the Watauga River flows into the South Holston River. On the West side of Kingsport the North and South forks of the Holston River combine to form the Holston River. This happens about a mile downstream from the Long Island on the Holston River which is a significant historical island in early Tennessee history. Daniel Boone "put off" from this island when he left to explore the wilderness and mark a path through the Cumberland Gap. Later, it was where frontiers men collected before going to Rocky Mount and on to the Battles of Kings Mountain and Battle of Cowpens during the Revolutionary War.

From the mountains of North Carolina comes the Nolichucky River and the French Broad River. The Nolichucky River flows into the French Broad River near White Pine, Hamblen County, TN which is upstream from Dandridge, Jefferson County, TN.

In the East Knoxville area and about a half mile downstream from Pickle Island on the French Broad River, the French Broad and Holston Rivers come together to form the Tennessee River.

The Clinch River flows into the Tennessee just below Fort Southwest Point. Upstream many streams combine to form with the Clinch. The Powell River out of Virginia flows into Norris Lake and combines with the Clinch River.

The Obed River flows into the Emory River near Wartburg, Morgan County, TN. The Emory River then it flows into the Clinch River near Kingston, TN. The Clinch River flows into the Tennessee River at Fort South West Point at Kingston.

Many creeks, streams and smaller rivers were part of this large collection of water and many others continue to flow into the Tennessee River before it reaches the Ohio River at Paducah, KY. The Ohio then joins the Mississippi River and flows into the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans.

The web site for maps of the area are for nautical navigation and show many landmarks. "Lights" are for buoys that have lights in them to aid navigation.
The Index page is:
http://www.orn.usace.army.mil/lakeinfo/NavCharts/TNRiver/

Go down to "Pool Watts Bar Lake" then the different areas around Roane County
(and other areas) can be found.

Number 82 is Bogart Island in the Matlock Bend area and the Loudon and Roane County line can be seen. The center of the river channel is part of the boundary. Wilson Island is large island on the upper left side of the river on this section. It shows as Wilson Light.
http://www.orn.usace.army.mil/lakeinfo/NavCharts/TNRiver/82.jpg

Number 81 is Riley, Stamp & Richland Creeks the next section in Roane County and shows the Long Island just north of the U.S. 58 Bridge south of Kingston. Other numbers in this area show other sections of the river.
http://www.orn.usace.army.mil/lakeinfo/NavCharts/TNRiver/81.jpg

Fort South West Point is located on the lower left corner of Number 106 the Clinch and Emory River at Kingston, TN.
This is the web page.
http://www.orn.usace.army.mil/lakeinfo/NavCharts/TNRiver/106.jpg