Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
US 321
U.S. Route 321 (US 321) is a spur of U.S. Route 21. It runs for from Hardeeville, South Carolina to Lenoir City, Tennessee; with both serving as southern termini. It reaches its northernmost point at Elizabethton, Tennessee, just no ...
in
Limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
Blountville
Blountville is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Sullivan County, Tennessee. The population was 3,074 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census and 3,120 at the 2020 census. It is the only Tennessee county seat not ...
Limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
US 321
U.S. Route 321 (US 321) is a spur of U.S. Route 21. It runs for from Hardeeville, South Carolina to Lenoir City, Tennessee; with both serving as southern termini. It reaches its northernmost point at Elizabethton, Tennessee, just no ...
/ SR 34. The highway then heads northeast through rural farmland to have an intersection with SR 81 just before passing through Sulphur Springs. SR 75 then continues to enter
Gray
Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...
US 23
U.S. Route 23 or U.S. Highway 23 (US 23) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway between Jacksonville, Florida, and Mackinaw City, Michigan. It is an original 1926 route which originally reached only as far south a ...
(Exit 13). The highway then widens to a 4-lane undivided highway and passes just southeast of downtown before leaving Gray and passing through Spurgeon, where it has an intersection with SR 36. SR 75 then crosses the
South Fork Holston River
The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee, ...
Boone Lake
Boone Lake is a reservoir in Sullivan and Washington counties in northeastern Tennessee, formed by the impoundment of the South Fork Holston River and Watauga River behind Boone Dam.Boring before entering
Blountville
Blountville is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Sullivan County, Tennessee. The population was 3,074 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census and 3,120 at the 2020 census. It is the only Tennessee county seat not ...
and passing by the
Tri-Cities Regional Airport
Tri-Cities Airport (also known as Tri-Cities Airport, TN/VA), serves the Tri-Cities, Tennessee, Tri-Cities area (Johnson City, Tennessee; Kingsport, Tennessee; Bristol, Tennessee-Bristol, Virginia, Virginia) of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest ...
, where it has an interchange with SR 357. SR 75 then narrows to 2-lanes and passes rural areas of Blountville before entering downtown, where it comes to an intersection with SR 126.
The entire route of SR 75 is a secondary highway.
History
The current SR 75 is the third state highway in Tennessee to bear this numbering. The first alignment was one of the original state highways established on October 1, 1923, and ran between Springfield to the Kentucky line along what is now US 31W. In 1925 or 1926, this route was truncated by part of SR 79, and completed renumbered as part of SR 49 and
SR 52
The following highways are numbered 52:
Australia
* Kings Highway (Australia)
* Isis Highway (Childers, Queensland, Childers to Ban Ban Springs, Queensland, Ban Ban Springs) – Queensland State Route 52 (Wide Bay–Burnett Region)
* Gillies Hig ...
in 1927 or 1928 Around the same time, the second SR 75 was established between the
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
US 25
U.S. Route 25 or U.S. Highway 25 (US 25) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs for in the Southern United States, Southern and Midwestern United States, Midwestern U.S. Its southern terminus is in Brunswick ...
/ 70 in Newport. This route was renumbered as part of SR 32 in 1939 or 1940. The present-day SR 75 was established between 1964 and 1969, as a renumbering of part of SR 37 between US 23 in Gray and SR 126 in Blountville. On July 1, 1983, SR 75 was extended south to US 11E/321 in Limestoneon Gray Station Road as part of a statewide takeover and renumbering of roads that year. Signs were posted the following year.
In May 2000, the
Gray Fossil Site
The Gray Fossil Site is an Early Pliocene assemblage of fossils dating between 4.5 and 4.9 million years old, located near the community of Gray in Washington County, Tennessee, USA. The site was discovered during road construction on Tennessee ...
was discovered by TDOT construction crews along SR 75 near the Gray Community. This site consists of
fossils
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
from the early
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58
Future
A widening project has been taking place on SR 75 to provide a four-lane highway from
Interstate 26
Interstate 26 (I-26) is a main route of the Interstate Highway System in the Southeastern United States. Nominally east–west, as indicated by its even number, I-26 runs from the junction of U.S. Route 11W, US Route 11W (US 11W) ...
in
Gray
Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...
to the
Tri-Cities Regional Airport
Tri-Cities Airport (also known as Tri-Cities Airport, TN/VA), serves the Tri-Cities, Tennessee, Tri-Cities area (Johnson City, Tennessee; Kingsport, Tennessee; Bristol, Tennessee-Bristol, Virginia, Virginia) of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest ...
in
Blountville
Blountville is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Sullivan County, Tennessee. The population was 3,074 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census and 3,120 at the 2020 census. It is the only Tennessee county seat not ...