Chattanooga

Chattanooga, city in southeastern Tennessee, seat of Hamilton County, and a port on the Tennessee River, near the Georgia border. Bridges span the river to link the two sections of the city, which is a services, financial, retail, and distribution center. Manufactures include textiles, primary and fabricated metal, chemicals, and food products; tourism is of growing importance to the economy. Three interstate highways and the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport serve the city.

Chattanooga is home to a campus (established in 1886) of the University of Tennessee, Tennessee Temple University (1946), and a community college. Museums include the Chattanooga Regional History Museum; the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, where visitors can take a trip aboard a steam-powered passenger train; the Houston Museum of Decorative Arts; the Hunter Museum of American Art, with a collection spanning three centuries of American arts; and the Creative Discovery Museum for children.

Historical landmarks are also located in the immediate region. Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park commemorates several battles of the American Civil War (1861-1865); in this park are Signal Mountain, site of a Confederate observation post; Lookout Mountain, on which the “Battle Above the Clouds” was fought; and parts of Missionary Ridge. In the city are the Chattanooga National Cemetery, the Confederate Cemetery, and the Battles for Chattanooga Museum. Chattanooga is also home to the Tennessee Aquarium, the Symphony and Opera Association, the Chattanooga Nature Center and Reflection Riding, and Bessie Smith Hall, named for the Chattanooga-born blues singer. The Riverbend Festival, held in June, is a major annual event.

The city, almost surrounded by mountains, is the center of an area with many scenic attractions, including Rock City Gardens, an area of natural rock formations with views of seven states; Ruby Falls, a natural waterfall far below the surface of Lookout Mountain and accessible through cavern passages; and Raccoon Mountain Caverns.

The Chattanooga area was occupied by the Cherokee people from the early 1700s, and the city takes its name from a Cherokee phrase meaning “pointed rock,” which probably refers to Lookout Mountain. In 1816 John Ross, a Cherokee leader, established a trading post on the site, which became known as Ross’s Landing. While white settlement began in the late 1700s, it accelerated rapidly in the 1830s, and in 1838 the Cherokee were forcibly removed to the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. For many, the journey began in Chattanooga and was known as the Trail of Tears (see Cherokee: History), because approximately 4,000 Cherokee out of more than 18,000 forced from their homes perished through hunger, disease, and exposure.

The community now known as Chattanooga was laid out in 1838 and grew as a river port; it incorporated as a city in 1839. With the arrival of the railroad in 1850, it became one of the South’s major rail centers. Because of its strategic importance, it was fiercely contested during the Civil War (see Battle of Chattanooga; Battle of Chickamauga). Union troops took the city in 1863 and made it a Union base; it later was the starting point for the march through Georgia of the Union general William Tecumseh Sherman. Chattanooga’s recovery after the war was due in part to the development of the iron and coal industries. In 1899 it was the site of the first bottling plant of Coca-Cola. The modern industrial growth of the city was aided by Tennessee Valley Authority projects, including nearby Chickamauga Dam (1940), which produced abundant and inexpensive hydroelectric power.

By the 1960s the industrialization of Chattanooga had resulted in serious air pollution problems. Local and regional government responded with tough emission restrictions, and today the city’s air is again clean. Tennessee Riverpark Master Plan, created in the mid-1980s, spurred an ongoing revitalization of the riverfront. The city’s focus on development that meets the needs of future generations has earned Chattanooga widespread recognition.

Chattanooga covers a land area of 350 sq km (135 sq mi), with a mean elevation of 209 m (685 ft). According to the 2000 census, whites are 59.7 percent of the population, blacks 36.1 percent, Asians 1.5 percent, Native Americans 0.3 percent, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 0.1 percent. The remainder are of mixed heritage or did not report race. Hispanics, who may be of any race, are 2.1 percent of the people. Population 169,558 (1980); 152,466 (1990); 155,554 (2000); 155,190 (2006).