{"id":11746,"date":"2024-01-21T11:05:11","date_gmt":"2024-01-21T10:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aboutriver.com\/?p=11746"},"modified":"2024-01-21T11:05:11","modified_gmt":"2024-01-21T10:05:11","slug":"is-the-mississippi-river-in-tennessee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aboutriver.com\/is-the-mississippi-river-in-tennessee\/","title":{"rendered":"Is The Mississippi River In Tennessee"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Mississippi River is a major river located in the United States and is known as the lifeblood of the American Midwest. It flows 2,020 miles from Lake Itasca in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. With its originating points in the Northern United States and its ending point in the Southern United States, it’s no wonder that the Mississippi River has many states along its path. The state of Tennessee, specifically, is one of those states.<\/p>\n

The Mississippi River begins at Lake Itasca and flows through 10 states before reaching its ending point in the Gulf of Mexico. It passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana before ending in the Gulf. Although the Mississippi River does pass through Tennessee, the actual state borders of Tennessee do not quite meet the Mississippi River. The portion of the river that runs through Tennessee is actually the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway which was created in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is quite an impressive feat. It is a 234 mile long artificial river created to provide a link between the Tennessee River and the Tombigbee River for commercial shipping. Although the portion of the Waterway that runs through Tennessee does not meet the actual Mississippi River, without it, the resources from the Tombigbee River would not be available to Tennessee. This Waterway has created more commercial opportunity for the state of Tennessee and without it, Tennessee would not have the freedom to ship goods north and south along the river.<\/p>\n

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is seen as a sort of substitute for the Mississippi. The goal of the Waterway is to give the state of Tennessee access to resources, recreational opportunities, and important trade advantages that the Mississippi River provides to other states along its route. The Waterway itself features various recreational opportunities such as camping, boating, and fishing.<\/p>\n