U.S. Route 23 in Tennessee
U.S. Route 23 (US 23) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that travels from Jacksonville, Florida, to Mackinaw City, Michigan. In the U.S. state of Tennessee, the highway travels 57.48 miles (92.51 km) in the northeastern part of the state from the North Carolina state line at Sam's Gap in the Bald Mountains to the Virginia state line in Kingsport. The entire route in Tennessee is a four-lane controlled-access highway and is concurrent with Interstate 26 (I-26) for most of its length. The freeway is also designated the James H. Quillen Parkway for its entire length in Tennessee. US 23 in Tennessee is part of Corridor B of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) and serves as a major thoroughfare in the Tri-Cities region of the state. Although I-26 is technically an east–west route, the highway predominantly travels in a north–south alignment in the state. The highway reaches a maximum elevation of 3,760 feet (1,150 m) at the North Carolina state line, which is the highest elevation on the Interstate Highway System east of the Mississippi River.[6]
"I-181" redirects here. For the submarine, see Japanese submarine I-181.
U.S. Route 23
U.S. Route 23
May 26, 1930[3]–present
US 23 from the North Carolina state line to the Virginia state line
I-26 from the North Carolina state line to Kingsport
US 19W from Temple Hill to Johnson City
SR 137 from Kingsport to the Virginia state line
US 23 at the Virginia line
US 23 was first established in Tennessee in 1930 following State Route 36 (SR 36), and paving of the route was completed the following year. The freeway was first authorized by the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965, and the stretch between Johnson City and the Virginia state line was constructed in segments between 1968 and 1986. In addition to US 23, this freeway was designated as State Route 137 (SR 137) and later Interstate 181 (I-181) and was commonly referred to as "Appalachian Highway" in its early years. In 1988, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) approved an extension of I-26 from Asheville, North Carolina, to I-81 in Tennessee. The remainder of the freeway was completed in 1995, and the stretch between the North Carolina state line and I-81 was redesignated as I-26 in 2003. After an initial denial, I-26 was extended north to Kingsport in 2007, replacing the remainder of I-181. Today, the mountainous stretch near the North Carolina state line is widely considered to be one of the most scenic stretches of Interstate Highway in the Eastern U.S.[7][8]
State Route 137
State Route 137
Kingsport, Tennessee–Virginia state line
3.03 mi[1] (4.88 km)
1968–present
Johnson City–Kingsport
23.85 mi[106] (38.38 km)
1985–2007
North Carolina state line–Kingsport, Tennessee
54.45 mi[2] (87.63 km)
2003–present
History[edit]
Background and predecessors[edit]
The region that is now the northeastern corner of Tennessee was the first part of the state to be significantly explored and settled by European Americans. Longhunters from North Carolina and Virginia extensively explored the region in the 1750s and 1760s, which, at the time, was controlled by the Overhill Cherokee.[13] These settlers utilized a series of Native American trails that traversed the region.[14] By the late 1760s, the first permanent White settlements began to arise, which gradually developed into the cities along the present-day US 23 corridor of Elizabethton, Johnson City, Jonesborough, and Kingsport.[15] These settlers founded the Watauga Association in 1772—a frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachian Mountains. The trail that would become part of US 19W through the Blue Ridge Mountains was utilized by the Overmountain Men—frontiersmen from west of the Blue Ridge Mountains who participated in the American Revolutionary War—in 1780. The East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad, which came to be nicknamed the "Tweetsie", was chartered in 1866 for the purpose of transporting iron ore from mines in Cranberry, North Carolina. The first section, which ran between Hampton and Johnson City and passed through Elizabethton, opened in 1881. The tracks were completed into North Carolina the following year, providing the first efficient means of transportation across the mountains in this area.[16][17] By 1890, a portion of the Clinchfield Railroad that ran through Kingsport, Johnson City, and Erwin was mostly complete.[17][18] Also around this time, the network of trails that would become the US 23 corridor had also largely come into existence.[19]
