Indigenous peoples of varying cultures hunted at the marshes.
The historic Native American people in the area were the Chisca.
Now, on a recent rainy afternoon, a torrent of cars splashes along Richland's nearby George Washington Way, the gloomy weather in stark counterpoint to the Tri-Cities' bubbling economy.
"Approximately $3 billion of federal money comes into this community every year," Lawrence says.
Established in 1780, Sullivan County was one of the earliest settled areas in Tennessee.
