The Cumberland River flows through Clarksville. The river is about as wide as Town Lake in Austin but it is an actual river with barge traffic. There is a sidewalk and park along the edge of the river and I checked it out last weekend. The sidewalk is about a mile long. The Cumberland originates in western Kentucky at the Ohio River, dips down into northern Tennessee, down to Nashville and then makes a northeasterly trek back into Kentucky. This is the river that flooded Opryland in 2010. At one time, French traders called it Rivere des Chaouanons (River of the Shawnee). Even back in the 1740's, Americans were unilingual so the river was renamed the Cumberland after Prince William, Duke of Cumberland. I like Rivere des Chaouanons but what can you do.At some point, Clarksville became known as The Queen of the Cumberland. There are several businesses in town named in this manner.... Queen City Muffler, Queen City Beauty School, etc. Long live the queen.
