Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in Tennessee and the seat of Hamilton County Tennessee. It is located in southeastern Tennessee on Chickamauga and Nickajack Lake, which are both part of the Tennessee River, and is near the border of Georgia.
Chattanooga lies at the transition between the Appalachian Mountains and the Cumberland Plateau, and as such is completely surrounded by ridges.
Chattanooga’s first occupants of the area were Native American Indians with encampments there dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period, showing continuous occupation through the Archaic, Woodland, Mississippian (900-1650 ce), Muskogean and Cherokee (1776 - 1838 ce) periods. The name ‘Chattanooga’ is based on the Muskogean term for rock, cvto (chatta), which most people believe to refer to Lookout Mountain which, when viewed from Moccasin Bend, appears as a “rock rising to a point.”
Many Indian artifacts have been found on this island in the river in downtown Chattanooga
The earliest Cherokee occupation dates from Dragging Canoe, who in 1776 separated himself and moved downriver from the main tribe to establish Native American resistance (see Chickamauga Wars) to European settlement in the southeastern United States. Occupation of the area by members of the Cherokee Nation dates from 1816 with the establishment of Ross’s Landing by later tribal chief John Ross and ended with the forced relocation of Native American Indians from southeastern U. S. states to Oklahoma in 1838. Ross’s Landing was one of three large internment camps, or “emigration depots,” along the Trail of Tears, the other two being Fort Payne, Alabama and the largest at Fort Cass, Tennessee.
The city is known for the 1941 big-band swing song “Chattanooga Choo Choo” by Glenn Miller, but it has grown significantly since its days as a railroad hub and industrial center.
Chattanooga in time of the civil war. was a huge concern with tents and supply wagons usually kept beside the city buildin and both Union and Confederate soldiers camped nearby at any given time.
Civil war involvement in Tennessee was heavy and a rich history is there waiting to be explored by the Civil war history buff.
During the American Civil War on November 23, 1863, the Third Battle of Chattanooga began when Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforced troops at Chattanooga and counterattacked Confederate troops. The next day, the Battle of Lookout Mountain was fought near the town. These were followed the next spring by the Atlanta Campaign, beginning just over the nearby state line in Georgia and moving southeastward.
A cannon sits on the site of Lookout Mountain Civil War Battlefield
After the war ended, the city became a major manufacturing center and by the 1930s was known as the “Dynamo of Dixie.” But the same mountains that provided Chattanooga’s scenic backdrop trapped and held the pollution over the city, which required vast cleanup and resources to change, a challenge that chattanooga has risen to.
In recent years, resources have been invested in transforming the city’s tarnished image and to gain recognition for what can be termed nothing less than a miraculous rising from the ashes to enliven the riverfront areas.
An early cornerstone of this project was the restoration of the historic Walnut Street Bridge. The Walnut Street Bridge is the oldest surviving bridge of its kind in the Southeastern United States.
Arts and Culture
In 1935, as well as from 1993 to 1995, Chattanooga hosted the National Folk Festival.
Chattanooga is the home to the Hunter Museum of American Art, a well known art museum.
As birthplace of the tow truck, Chattanooga is now home to the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum, as well as another transportation icon at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, the largest operating historic railroad in the south.
Other notable museums include the Chattanooga Regional History Museum, the National Medal of Honor Museum, the Houston Museum, and the Chattanooga African American Museum.
Chattanooga’s historic Tivoli Theatre is home to the city’s symphony and opera companies under the direction of Robert Bernhardt.
The Chattanooga Theatre Centre offers 15 productions each year in three separate theater programs: the Mainstage, the Circle Theater, and the Youth Theater.
Another popular performance venue is Memorial Auditorium.
Chattanooga is host to several writing conferences, including the Conference on Southern Literature the Festival of Writers, both sponsored by the Arts & Education Council of Chattanooga.
Tourism
Chattanooga offers the visitor many tourist attractions, including: Tennessee Aquarium,
*Tennessee caverns
*Tennessee River.
*Chattanooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn Hotel that is a renovated train station with the largest HO model train layout in the United States,
*Creative Discovery Museum (a hands-on children’s museum dedicated to science, art, and music)
*IMAX 3D Theatre,
Hunter Museum of American Art.
Along the river itself is the Tennessee Riverwalk, a 10-mile handicapped accessible greenway trail. Not far from the downtown area is the Chattanooga Zoo at Warner Park.
Near Chattanooga, the Raccoon Mountain Reservoir, Raccoon Mountain Caverns and Reflection Riding Arboretum and Botanical Garden boast a number of outdoor and family fun opportunities. Other arboretums include Bonny Oaks Arboretum, Cherokee Arboretum at Audubon Acres and Cherokee Trail Arboretum.
The Ocoee River, host to a number of events from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, features rafting, kayaking, camping and hiking. Also just outside Chattanooga is the Lake Winnepesaukah amusement park. The Cumberland Trail begins in Signal Mountain, just outside of Chattanooga.
Due to its location at the junction of the Cumberland Plateau and the southern Appalachians, Chattanooga has become a haven for outdoor sports such as hunting, fishing, trail running, road running, adventure racing, rock climbing, mountain biking and road biking.
The city boasts a number of outdoor clubs: Scenic City Velo, SORBA-Chattanooga, The Wilderness Trail Running Association, and The Chattanooga Track Club. The city also funds Outdoor Chattanooga, an organization focused on promoting outdoor recreation.
The city recently hired its first-ever bicycle coordinator to promote bicycling for transportation, recreation and active living.*
