The Middle Fork Of The Holston River

Today's picture features the middle fork of the Holston river just below the dam at DeBusk Mill in rural Washington County, Virginia. The three forks of the Holston flow through southwestern Virginia, gently snaking their way between hills and through valleys until they finally converge to form the mighty Holston - the primary tributary of the Tennessee river.

There is a lot of history in the hills, "hollers" and valleys of the watershed of the Holston's forks. Over the years, families were raised and fortunes were made in numerous communities that sprang up all along the riverbanks.

Electricity gradually replaced water wheels as the power source for the region's grist mills, and the vast majority of them eventually shut down as larger, more modern mills were built elsewhere. Today, all that remains of most of those old mills are a shell of a building and an abandoned dam.

But we still have the rivers themselves to enjoy. Most days with nice weather you can see fishermen trying their luck on the banks of the Holston. In fact my dad enjoyed casting a line into her "fishing holes" for many years, and one of his favorite fishing holes was the pond at DeBusk mill.

I took this picture a couple of days ago as we were driving down DeBusk Mill Road. I liked the way the trees reflected in the river so we stopped and I snapped off a few shots. As I was standing there on the bank of the middle fork of the Holston, I got the feeling that dad was there with me, sitting under a tree waiting for a "bite" - and probably whispering to me "be still or you'll scare away the fish". And he was indeed there...in my memories and in my heart.

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