Tunnel Hill is a town in northwest Whitfield County and southern Catoosa County,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, United States. It is part of the

Dalton Dalton may refer to: Science * Dalton (crater), a lunar crater * Dalton (program), chemistry software * Dalton (unit) (Da), the atomic mass unit * John Dalton, chemist, physicist and meteorologist Entertainment * Dalton (Buffyverse), minor cha ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

. The population was 963 at the 2020 census. The town is named for the

Chetoogeta Mountain Tunnel The Chetoogeta Mountain Tunnel () refers to two different railroad tunnels passing through Chetoogeta Mountain in Tunnel Hill, Georgia, United States. The first tunnel, known as the Western and Atlantic Railroad Tunnel at Tunnel Hill, was comp ...

, a railroad tunnel built in the late 1840s.

History

The community was first known as Doe Run. It was incorporated on March 4, 1848, as Tunnelsville, and changed its name in 1856 to Tunnel Hill. Both names refer to the nearby

railroad tunnel cut through Chetoogeta Mountain, officially dedicated on October 31, 1849 by Etowah steel-maker Mark A. Cooper on behalf of the state-owned

Western & Atlantic Railroad The Western & Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia (W&A) is a railroad owned by the State of Georgia and currently leased by CSX, which CSX operates in the Southeastern United States from Atlanta, Georgia, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was fo ...

. The

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly ...

incorporated Tunnel Hill as a town in 1856. Throughout the American Civil War, the homes around Tunnel Hill were used as part of a major hospital system. The Clisby Austin House also served as the headquarters for Union Gen.

William T. Sherman William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

while he made his plans for attacks against nearby Dalton and Resaca, which became the opening battles of what would later be known as the Atlanta Campaign. The area hosted many engagements and camps throughout the course of the war. These are remembered through an annual Battle Reenactment held in September. The dates of the actual military engagements were September 11, 1863; February 23, 24-25 1864; May 5–7, 1864; and March 3, 1865.

Geography

Tunnel Hill is located at (34.845934, -85.042955). The town is situated in a rugged area along the western base of Chetoogeta Mountain (listed as "Tunnel Hill Ridge" on USGS maps). The

Tennessee Valley Divide The Tennessee Valley Divide is the boundary of the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and its tributaries. The Tennessee River drainage basin begins with its tributaries in southwestern Virginia and flows generally west to the confluence of t ...

crosses the top of the ridge, dividing the watersheds of the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

and the

Conasauga River The Conasauga River is a river that runs through southeast Tennessee and northwest Georgia. The Conasauga River is longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 an ...

U.S. Route 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...

connects Tunnel Hill to Ringgold to the northwest and

to the southeast.

Georgia State Route 201 State Route 201 (SR 201) is a state highway in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. It travels from Villanow, in Walker County northeast to Varnell, in Whitfield County. Route description SR 201 begins at an i ...

connects the town with

Varnell Varnell is a city in Whitfield County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Dalton, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,179 at the 2020 census. History The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Varnell in 1968. The ...

to the northeast. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km), all land.

Demographics

As of 2010 Tunnel Hill had a population of 856. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 93.5% white, 3.7% black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 1.5% from some other race and 0.4% from two or more race. 3.5% of the population was Hispanic or Latino, with 2.0% of the population being Mexican.2010 general profile of population and housing characteristics of Tunnel Hill from the US Census] As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 1,209 people, 451 households, and 359 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 474 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.46%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 2.56%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.17% Native American, 0.17%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.17%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 1.57% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.91% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 3.97% of the population. There were 451 households, out of which 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.2% were non-families. 18.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.00. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.8% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $43,438, and the median income for a family was $49,531. Males had a median income of $31,974 versus $25,078 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $21,382. About 8.8% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 12.1% of those under age 18 and 12.1% of those age 65 or over.

Gallery

References

External links

*
Tunnel Hill at Georgia.govTunnel Hill Heritage Center and Museum

Railfanning in Tunnel Hill
{{authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Whitfield County, Georgia Dalton metropolitan area, Georgia Populated places established in 1848 1848 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)