Saturday, March 05, 2005
geo BIT ~
French Broad River
As we tour the Greater Asheville area, we cross the French Broad River at numerous points. "WHAT River is THAT?" my clients ask...and I tell them.."THAT'S the French Broad...again!
It seems the French Broad River is ever-present around here...and it takes special care...even has a River Keeper. (see link below) He's the person to ask serious questions about it, but I do know a few things that might interest you...such as
where it starts and to where it flows...
The French Broad flows from Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee. Its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville, Tennessee is considered to be the headwaters of the Tennessee River.
how it got its name...
This amazing river originally was named for being one of two broad rivers in western North Carolina . The one which flowed into formerly French territory was named the French Broad, and the other which stayed in English territory (the American colonies) was named the English Broad, now just the Broad River.
"improvements"
The lower portion of the river is the site of a major hydroelectric dam development of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Douglas Dam, which is one of the larger TVA developments on a Tennessee River tributary stream. Douglas, like many of the older TVA facilites in East Tennessee, was initially developed largely to meet the power demands entailed by World War II, particularly the atomic weapons plant at Oak Ridge.
amazing fact!
The river begins west of the Eastern Continental Divide, and therefore actually flows northwest through the Appalachian Mountains. The river flows through the city of Asheville, North Carolina. Interstate 40 generally follows this route in Tennessee, just north of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
External links
RiverLink (http://www.riverlink.org)
As we tour the Greater Asheville area, we cross the French Broad River at numerous points. "WHAT River is THAT?" my clients ask...and I tell them.."THAT'S the French Broad...again!
It seems the French Broad River is ever-present around here...and it takes special care...even has a River Keeper. (see link below) He's the person to ask serious questions about it, but I do know a few things that might interest you...such as
where it starts and to where it flows...
The French Broad flows from Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee. Its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville, Tennessee is considered to be the headwaters of the Tennessee River.
how it got its name...
This amazing river originally was named for being one of two broad rivers in western North Carolina . The one which flowed into formerly French territory was named the French Broad, and the other which stayed in English territory (the American colonies) was named the English Broad, now just the Broad River.
"improvements"
The lower portion of the river is the site of a major hydroelectric dam development of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Douglas Dam, which is one of the larger TVA developments on a Tennessee River tributary stream. Douglas, like many of the older TVA facilites in East Tennessee, was initially developed largely to meet the power demands entailed by World War II, particularly the atomic weapons plant at Oak Ridge.
amazing fact!
The river begins west of the Eastern Continental Divide, and therefore actually flows northwest through the Appalachian Mountains. The river flows through the city of Asheville, North Carolina. Interstate 40 generally follows this route in Tennessee, just north of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
External links
RiverLink (http://www.riverlink.org)
