Whiteside (formerly Aetna, Etna and Running Water) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Marion County, Tennessee. It was originally settled as a Cherokee town in the late eighteenth century. After Indian Removal, European-American settlers moved in and later named it after James Anderson Whiteside (1803–1861), attorney, Chattanooga railroad promoter and land investor.Larry Miller,
Tennessee Place Names
' (Indiana University Press, 2001), p. 222. It lies at an elevation of 807 feet (246 m).

Tennessee State Route 134 State Route 134 (SR 134) is an east-west state highway in southeastern Tennessee. The state route traverses portions of southern Marion and southwestern Hamilton Counties. It travels along a path from Haletown to the Georgia state line. Route ...

passes by Whiteside, which is located between Chattanooga and Haletown, just north of the Tennessee-

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 ...

state line.

Demographics

History

For the decade preceding his death in 1792, Cherokee war chief

Dragging Canoe Dragging Canoe (ᏥᏳ ᎦᏅᏏᏂ, pronounced ''Tsiyu Gansini'', "he is dragging his canoe") (c. 1738 – February 29, 1792) was a Cherokee war chief who led a band of Cherokee warriors who resisted colonists and United States settlers in the ...

lived at Running Water ( chr, ᎠᎼᎦᏳᎾᏱ, translit=Amogayunayi), a

Chickamauga Chickamauga may refer to: Entertainment * "Chickamauga", an 1889 short story by American author Ambrose Bierce * "Chickamauga", a 1937 short story by Thomas Wolfe * "Chickamauga", a song by Uncle Tupelo from their 1993 album ''Anodyne'' * ''Chic ...

town. He and his Cherokee followers were opposed to European-American settlement in their lands; they moved to more distant areas of the frontier to avoid the Americans. The community of Whiteside developed later at this site, named for a major railway investor. Shortly before the Civil War, a railway was constructed in this area. The terrain required also the construction of a tunnel and bridge. Colonel James Whiteside was a major stockholder in the

East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad The East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad Company was incorporated under special act of Tennessee on February 19, 1836 as the Hiwassee Rail Road Company.Interstate Commerce Commission. ''Southern Ry. Co.'', Volume 37, Interstate Commerce Commission ...

. It took over construction of what is known as Whiteside Tunnel in 1858 through Missionary Ridge near Chattanooga when the Chattanooga, Harrison, Georgetown & Charleston Railroad went bankrupt. The tunnel is long. This railroad was later acquired by the Southern Railway (now the Norfolk-Southern) for its Knoxville-to-Birmingham main route. The Whiteside bridge was constructed on another part of the route. Confederate troops destroyed it during the Civil War, but Union forces rebuilt the Whiteside trestle in 1863, for what was then known as the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad. This structure washed away in a flood in 1867. The next bridge, also a single span, lasted to 1924. A double-span bridge was added to this area. These were considered important strategic structures. After the tunnel was abandoned, because of changes in rail standards and patterns of use, it was donated in 1968 to the

Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is a railroad museum and heritage railroad in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum was founded as a chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1960 by Paul H. Merriman an ...

. The Whiteside Tunnel was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1978, as NRHP 78002595. The Whiteside structures were integral to the passage of freight and passengers through 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 name ...

valley from Chattanooga to points west. The Tennessee River did not become navigable west of Chattanooga, as an alternate route, until after construction of the

Hales Bar Dam Hales Bar Dam was a hydroelectric dam once located on the Tennessee River in Marion County, Tennessee, United States. The Chattanooga and Tennessee River Power Company began building the dam on October 17, 1905, and completed it on November 11t ...

and associated locks, which opened in 1913.

References

Unincorporated communities in Marion County, Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Tennessee Cherokee towns in Tennessee {{MarionCountyTN-geo-stub