Caching in and Around Blountville and Kingsport 5/6/2008

Well we got off this morning with a bunch of caches to do around the area with hopes of seeing something interesting and/or historical. Well that didn't really pan out like we figured it would as there just doesn't seem to be a lot around this general area like that. We started out with a few caches close to the campgrounds, the first and second being at a now closed Sam's Club, one in front and one in back. Then it was on to a Sleep Inn for a cache in the back of the motel, a cache close to a gas station in a phone booth, a cache at a health center and one at an old school (not what we would consider old though).
We drove into Kingsport to the Fort Patrick Henry Dam and a virtual cache at the dam overlook. Fort Patrick Henry Dam is named after the colonial fort, also known as Long Island Station, that was established nearby at the site of present-day Kingsport, Tennessee. The dam was built primarily for hydropower, but it is also used to regulate the flow of water downstream to ensure a reliable supply of water for local industry and for cooling water at TVA’s John Sevier Fossil Plant. Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir is a popular site for fishing, particularly rainbow trout, bluegill, bass, and crappie. Warrior’s Path State Park is located on the reservoir. This was our 1500th find so we took a couple of pictures for posterity and we were off. We drove up to Warrior Path State Park and took a ride through it. A very lovely park with campgrounds, fishing, swimming, boating, a children's play park and many sports fields.
Next cache was on a guardrail near a dangerous ledge, then it was a multi-cache located at an old Kingsport cemetery which we found quickly. Our last cache was close to another gas station near Rt 81. We drove into Kingsport to see if there were any interesting or historical sites. We did find The Netherland Inn on the banks of the Holston River. This Inn has some long history and although we didn't take the tour through the Inn we found it very interesting. From the 1760s travelers came by wagon down the Island Road to the river bank where they built boats and migrated west. Originally built by William King in 1802 and 1808 for the sole purpose of developing a boat yard from which to ship his salt, the Netherland Inn was later sold at a sheriff's sale in 1818 to Richard Netherland. Netherland immediately procured a stage contract and established this beautiful three-story building as an inn and tavern on the Great Old Stage Road, the main route to Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. The Netherland Inn became established as a popular stagecoach inn hosting many famous persons including Presidents Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson and James Polk. Netherland Inn remained in the Netherland family until 1906 when it became the home and boarding house of H.C. and Nettie Cloud. In 1968, it was purchased by the Netherland Inn Association to be preserved as a historic house museum. The inn today has been furnished to represent life as it was in an important American frontier settlement. Research was collected from the diary of Richard Netherland, as well as other primary and secondary history sources. The first floor tavern, second floor family quarters, and third floor guest rooms all have been furnished with period pieces. Although much of the Netherland Inn furniture was destroyed or lost in the Civil War, some of it remains and can been seen throughout the house. This Inn is also on the National Register of Historic Places. There are also several other cabins on the site such as The Pence Cabin, The Daniel Boone House, The Schoolhouse and a Flat Boat Replica.
Then it was off to Sonic for a little lunch and then back to the RV after finding a few historical markers that we did put in our pictures for today. Mom did our cache logs and I showered and took a nap. Mom is outside reading now and I am doing the blog. Well time to say so long until tomorrow and we love you all.


I hope everybody realizes if you click on a picture it should be enlarged so you can read the text on that picture.


Picture List:1-Mom & Dad at Fort Patrick Henry Dam our 1500th cache find, 2-We think it's a butterfly or ?????, 3-Art sculpture in downtown Kingsport, 4-8-Fort Patrick Henry Dam, 9,10-Netherland Inn, 11-The Daniel Boone House-This cabin was built in 1773 in Duffield, Virginia vicinity, Daniel and Rebecca Boone lived in this home until 1775. This is a fine specimen of the region's early pioneer log architecture, 12-Pence Cabin-This cabin built in the 1800s and shows original adze marks on the logs. It was originally located on a route used by travelers as well as Civil War troops in Sullivan County, 13-The Schoolhouse-This 1790 log structure served, at varying times, as an inn, a home and a schoolhouse. Attached to the Schoolhouse is a dependency, (which is now a caterers kitchen), 14-Flat Boat Replica-In 1779 Col. John Donelson built 30 flat boats here to use on a journey that carried 300 people to their "Big Salt Licks" (Nashville) destination. The group left Kingsport on December 22, 1779 and arrived at their destination on April 24, 1780, 15-Boatyard Adventure, 16-Pactolus Ironworks Historical Marker.