Visitors to the Tennessee Aquarium Plaza this summer will discover a new way to experience the state’s rivers.
As part of the nationwide celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, the Tennessee Aquarium installed a series of outdoor signs highlighting 10 remarkable Tennessee rivers and the roles they’ve played in shaping the state’s history, ecology and identity.
Each sign profiles a Tennessee river, showing its course on a state map and highlighting its most distinctive feature. The waterways were selected by the Aquarium’s freshwater scientists for reasons ranging from their historic and ecological importance to unique geographic superlatives.
The featured rivers are:
• Tennessee River
• Mississippi River
• Cumberland River
• Hatchie River
• Conasauga River
• French Broad River
• Clinch River
• Big South Fork
• Duck River
• Buffalo River
The Plaza signs also feature QR codes linking visitors to a special edition of the Aquarium’s digital magazine, Riverwatch, which explores how rivers have shaped America throughout its 250-year history.
From the industrial might of the Ohio River to the frontier-expanding reach of the Missouri River, these waterways helped define the nation. (Call it a symptom of state pride, but one river – the Tennessee River – earned a place on both the national and Tennessee lists.)
Some of the facts highlighted on the signs might surprise even lifelong Tennesseans. The Conasauga River contains more fish species per mile than any other river in North America. The French Broad River is considered one of the oldest rivers on Earth. The Clinch River was once the center of a thriving freshwater pearl industry.
The signs will remain on the Aquarium Plaza through the end of July as part of the statewide Tennessee America 250 celebration.
The exhibit also serves as a reminder of just how central rivers are to Tennessee’s story.
From a legacy of deep cultural significance to Native Americans to opening the state’s hinterlands to European exploration and later spurring settlement at places like Nashville, Chattanooga and Memphis, rivers have long shaped Tennessee’s history.
It helps that there are so many of them.
Tennessee contains more than 61,000 miles of rivers and streams, the Environmental Protection Agency reports. Connected into a single waterway, that network could stretch back and forth between Johnson City and Memphis more than 70 times with hundreds of miles remaining.
These waterways are more than scenic features. They provide drinking water, support recreation, sustain commerce and nurture one of the richest collections of freshwater life in the world.
“You might think most of the fishes in the world are in the oceans, but almost half of them are in fresh water, even though it makes up less than 1% of water on Earth,” says Aquatic Conservation Biologist Dr. Bernie Kuhajda.
“An incredible amount of aquatic biodiversity is in big rivers. There are a lot of special rivers in Tennessee, but all of them have one thing in common, which is free-flowing water and a suitable natural environment.”
More than 88% of Tennessee’s waterways are perennial, flowing year-round, the EPA reports. Combined with the state’s remarkably diverse geology, these rivers and streams support more than 300 species of fish, 130 species of freshwater mussels, 90 species of crawfish, 16 species of turtles and more than 60 species of salamanders.
Despite their historical, ecological and economic importance, rivers can become so familiar that they fade into the background of daily life.
Since opening in 1992, the Tennessee Aquarium has worked to keep freshwater conservation in the foreground. More than three decades later, it remains one of the world’s largest aquariums devoted primarily to freshwater ecosystems.
The late journalist Charles Kuralt once wrote, “America is a great story, and there is a river on every page of it.”
This summer’s plaza exhibit invites visitors to discover that Tennessee’s story is no different.
To learn more about the Tennessee America 250 celebration, visit tn250.com.