Kingsport, city, Hawkins and Sullivan counties, northeastern Tennessee, on the Holston River, near the Virginia line; incorporated as a city 1917. Manufactures include printed materials, chemicals, textiles, clothing, glass, cement, iron, leather, bricks, and explosives. In the city is the Netherland Inn House Museum and Boatyard Complex, with exhibits of early 19th-century materials. Nearby are scenic mountains and several large lakes. The settlement grew as a river port around forts built in 1761 and 1776 on the Wilderness Road. In 1909 the railroad reached the community, which was transformed into a planned industrial center after 1915. Population 32,027 (1980); 36,365 (1990); 44,905 (2000).
