Chattanooga, Tennessee
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of
Hamilton County, Tennessee Hamilton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in the southern part of East Tennessee on the border with Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 366,207, making it the fourth-most populous county i ...
, United States. Located along 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 ...
bordering
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 ...
, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee's fourth-largest city and one of the two principal cities of East Tennessee, along with
Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
. It anchors the
Chattanooga metropolitan area The Chattanooga, TN-GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, is an area consisting of six counties – three in southeast Tennessee (Hamilton, Marion, and Sequatchie) and three in nor ...
, Tennessee's fourth-largest
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 ...
, as well as a larger three-state area that includes Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia, and Northeast Alabama. Chattanooga was a crucial city during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, due to the multiple railroads that converge there. After the war, the railroads allowed for the city to grow into one of the Southeastern United States' largest heavy industrial hubs. Today, major industry that drives the economy includes automotive, advanced manufacturing, food and beverage production, healthcare, insurance, tourism, and back office and corporate headquarters. Chattanooga remains a transit hub in the present day, served by multiple Interstate highways and railroad lines. It is northwest of
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, southwest of
Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...
, southeast of
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
, east-northeast of
Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in ...
, and northeast of
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
. Divided by 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 ...
, Chattanooga is at the transition between the
ridge-and-valley Appalachians The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division and are also a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending ...
and the Cumberland Plateau, both of which are part of the larger
Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
. Its official nickname is the "Scenic City", alluding to the surrounding mountains, ridges, and valleys. Unofficial nicknames include "River City", "Chatt", "Nooga", "Chattown", and "Gig City", the latter a reference to its claims that it has the fastest internet service in the Western Hemisphere. Chattanooga is internationally known from the 1941 hit song "
Chattanooga Choo Choo "Chattanooga Choo Choo" is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and composed by Harry Warren. It was originally recorded as a big band/swing tune by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra and featured in the 1941 movie '' Sun Valley Serenade''. It was ...
" by Glenn Miller and his
orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
. It is home to the
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT-Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is one of four universities and two other affiliated institutions in the ...
(UTC) and
Chattanooga State Community College Chattanooga State Community College (Chattanooga State or, informally, Chatt State) is a public community college in Chattanooga, Tennessee.“Chattanooga State Community College.” Educating Tennessee. Tennessee Board of Regents. http://www.tb ...
.


History


Early history

The first inhabitants of the Chattanooga area were Native Americans. Sites dating back to the
Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...
period (c. 10,000 BCE) show continuous human occupation through the Archaic,
Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...
, Mississippian/
Muskogean Muskogean (also Muskhogean, Muskogee) is a Native American language family spoken in different areas of the Southeastern United States. Though the debate concerning their interrelationships is ongoing, the Muskogean languages are generally div ...
/
Yuchi The Yuchi people, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma. In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee. In the late 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, G ...
(900– 1714 CE), and
Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
(1776–1838) periods. The Chickamauga Mound near the mouth of the
Chickamauga Creek Chickamauga Creek refers to two short tributaries of the Tennessee River, which join the river near Chattanooga, Tennessee. The two streams are North Chickamauga Creek and South Chickamauga Creek, joining the Tennessee from the north and south s ...
is the oldest (c. 750 CE) remaining visible art in Chattanooga. The Citico town and mound site was the most significant Mississippian/
Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsMuskogean Muskogean (also Muskhogean, Muskogee) is a Native American language family spoken in different areas of the Southeastern United States. Though the debate concerning their interrelationships is ongoing, the Muskogean languages are generally div ...
word ''cvto'' /chắtȯ/ – 'rock'. The latter may be derived from a regional suffix ''-nuga'' meaning dwelling or dwelling place. It is also believed to be derived from the Creek Indian word ''Chat-to-to-noog-gee'', meaning ‘rock rising to a point’, which is speculated to be a reference to Lookout Mountain. The earliest Cherokee occupation of the area dates from 1776, when
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 ...
separated himself from the main tribe to establish resistance to European settlement during the
Cherokee–American wars The Cherokee–American wars, also known as the Chickamauga Wars, were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles in the Old Southwest from 1776 to 1794 between the Cherokee and American se ...
. In 1816 John Ross, who later became Principal Chief, established
Ross's Landing Ross's Landing in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the last site of the Cherokee's 61-year occupation of Chattanooga and is considered to be the embarkation point of the Cherokee removal on the Trail of Tears. Ross's Landing Riverfront Park memorialize ...
. Located along what is now Broad Street, it became one of the centers of Cherokee Nation settlement, which also extended into Georgia and Alabama. In 1838, the U.S. government forced the Cherokees, along with other Native Americans, to relocate to the area designated as
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
, in what is now the state of
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
. Their journey west became known as the "
Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...
" for their exile and fatalities along the way. The U.S. Army used Ross's Landing as the site of one of three large internment camps, or "emigration depots", where Native Americans were held before the journey on the Trail of Tears.Vicki Rozema
Voices from the Trail of Tears
''Voices from the Trail of Tears'', 2003. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
In 1839, the community of Ross's Landing incorporated as the city of Chattanooga. The city grew quickly, initially benefiting from a location well-suited for river commerce. With the arrival of the railroad in 1850, Chattanooga became a boom town. The city was known as the site "where cotton meets corn," referring to its location along the cultural boundary between the mountain communities of southern Appalachia and the cotton-growing states to the south.Timothy Ezzell
Chattanooga
''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved: January 17, 2013.


Civil War

During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, Chattanooga was a center of battle. Chattanooga served as a hub connecting fifty percent of the Confederacy's arsenals, those being located in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Augusta,
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
, and Macon. Chattanooga's
railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
were vital to the Confederacy's transportation of raw material to processing plants for producing small arms munitions. During the Chickamauga Campaign,
Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
artillery bombarded Chattanooga as a diversion and occupied it on September 9, 1863. Following the
Battle of Chickamauga The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 19–20, 1863, between United States, U.S. and Confederate States of America, Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union Army, Union offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign ...
, the defeated Union Army retreated to safety in Chattanooga. On November 23, 1863, the Battles for Chattanooga began when Union forces led by
Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
reinforced troops at Chattanooga and advanced to Orchard Knob against
Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
troops besieging the city. The next day, the
Battle of Lookout Mountain The Battle of Lookout Mountain also known as the Battle Above The Clouds was fought November 24, 1863, as part of the Chattanooga Campaign of the American Civil War. Union forces under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker assaulted Lookout Mountain, Chattan ...
was fought, driving the Confederates off the mountain. On November 25, Grant's army routed the Confederates in the Battle of Missionary Ridge. In regard to victories won by the Union, Chattanooga marks one of three defining moments that turned the Civil War in their favor. The
Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...
brought the streak of victories obtained by the Confederacy to an end, while the
Siege of Vicksburg The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Missis ...
split the Confederacy itself in half, while Chattanooga served as the doorway to the deep south. These battles were followed the next spring by the Atlanta Campaign, beginning just over the nearby state line in Georgia and moving southeastward. After the war ended, the city became a major railroad hub and industrial and manufacturing center.


1867 flood

The largest flood in Chattanooga's history occurred in 1867, before the
Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...
(TVA) system was created in 1933 by
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
. The flood crested at and completely inundated the city. Since the completion of the reservoir system, the highest Chattanooga flood stage has been nearly , which occurred in 1973. Without regulation, the flood would have crested at . Flood-Prone Areas. Tennessee Valley Authority. Chattanooga was a major priority in the design of the TVA reservoir system and remains a major operating priority in the 21st century.


20th century

In December 1906, Chattanooga was in the national headlines in ''
United States v. Shipp ''United States v. Shipp'', 203 U.S. 563 (1906) (along with decisions at 214 U.S. 386 (1909), and 215 U.S. 580 (1909)), were rulings of the Supreme Court of the United States with regard to Sheriff Joseph F. Shipp and five others of Chattanooga, ...
,'' as the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, in the only criminal trial in its history, ruled that Hamilton County Sheriff Joseph H. Shipp had violated Ed Johnson's civil rights when Shipp allowed a mob to enter the Hamilton County jail and
lynch Lynch may refer to: Places Australia * Lynch Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica * Lynch Point, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica * Lynch's Crater, Queensland, Australia England * River Lynch, Hertfordshire * The Lynch, an island in the River ...
Johnson on the Walnut Street Bridge. Chattanooga grew with the entry of the United States in the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1917; the nearest training camp was in
Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia Fort Oglethorpe is a city predominantly in Catoosa County with some portions in Walker County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,423. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan St ...
. The
Influenza pandemic of 1918 The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
closed local movie theaters and pool halls. By the 1930s, Chattanooga was known as the "Dynamo of Dixie", inspiring the 1941 Glenn Miller
big-band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...
swing song "
Chattanooga Choo Choo "Chattanooga Choo Choo" is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and composed by Harry Warren. It was originally recorded as a big band/swing tune by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra and featured in the 1941 movie '' Sun Valley Serenade''. It was ...
". Through Mayor P.R. Olgiati's efforts, Chattanooga became the first city in Tennessee to have a completed interstate highway system in the latter 1960s. In February 1958, Chattanooga became one of the smallest cities in the country with three VHF television stations: WROM-TV (now WTVC-TV) channel 9 (
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
), WRGP-TV (now
WRCB-TV WRCB (channel 3) is a television station in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with NBC. The station has been owned by Sarkes Tarzian, Inc. since 1982. WRCB's studios are located on Whitehall Road on Chattanooga's north side; its ...
) channel 3 (
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
), and
WDEF-TV WDEF-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Morris Multimedia, the station maintains studios on Broad Street in Chattanooga and a transmitter in nearby Signal Mountain. Al ...
channel 12 (
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
). The same mountains that provide Chattanooga's scenic backdrop also trap industrial pollutants, which settle over the city. In 1969, the federal government declared that Chattanooga had the dirtiest air in the nation. Like other early industrial cities, Chattanooga entered the 1970s with serious socioeconomic challenges, including job layoffs because of de-industrialization, deteriorating city infrastructure, racial tensions, and social division. Chattanooga's population increased by nearly 50,000 in the 1970s. However, this was mostly because the city annexed nearby residential areas. By the mid-1980s, local leaders launched Vision 2000, an effort to revitalize and reinvent Chattanooga's culture and economy. Chattanooga's population declined by more than 10% in the 1980s, but regained it over the next two decades, the only major U.S. city to do so.


21st century

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the city of Chattanooga has grown, attracting people from out of state and even out of the country. Chattanooga launched the first one-gigabit-per-second Internet service in the United States in September 2010, provided through the city-owned utility EPB. In August 2012, Chattanooga developed its own
typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are list of type ...
, called ''Chatype'', which marks the first time a municipality has its own typeface in the United States and the first
crowd-funded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance. In 2015, over was rais ...
, custom-made typeface in the world. On July 16, 2015, six people—four U.S. Marines, one sailor, and the gunman—were killed and two more were wounded in shootings at two U.S. military facilities in Chattanooga. On November 21, 2016, a school bus carrying students from Woodmore Elementary School crashed in the Brainerd neighborhood, killing 6 and injuring 23. In March 2018, the driver, an employee of
Durham School Services Durham School Services is a school bus operator providing tendered pupil transportation throughout the United States, based in Lisle, Illinois, and currently operating in 32 states. Founded in 1917 with three buses in the San Gabriel Valley, it ...
, was convicted of six counts of criminally negligent homicide, 11 counts of reckless aggravated assault, seven counts of assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and illegally using his phone while driving. The crash reignited the debate about whether seat belts should be required in school buses. On June 5, 2022, there was a
mass shooting There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 20 ...
in Chattanooga that left three dead and injured 11.


Geography

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 , of which are land and , or 5.12%, are water. The most prominent natural features in and around Chattanooga are 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 ...
and the surrounding mountains. The Tennessee River is impounded by the
Chickamauga Dam The Chickamauga Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. The dam is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s as part of a New Deal era initiativ ...
north of the downtown area. The city is nestled between the southwestern
Ridge-and-valley Appalachians The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division and are also a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending ...
and the foot of
Walden's Ridge Walden Ridge (or Walden's Ridge) is a mountain ridge and escarpment located in Tennessee, in the United States. It marks the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau and is generally considered part of it. Walden Ridge is about long, running gen ...
; the river separates the ridge from the western side of downtown. Several miles east, the city is bisected by
Missionary Ridge Missionary Ridge is a geographic feature in Chattanooga, Tennessee, site of the Battle of Missionary Ridge, a battle in the American Civil War, fought on November 25, 1863. Union forces under Maj. Gens. Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, a ...
. The downtown area sits at an elevation of approximately , one of the lowest elevations in East Tennessee.


Cityscape

Downtown Chattanooga has a wide variety of entertainment, dining, cultural and architectural attractions, including the
Tennessee Aquarium The Tennessee Aquarium is a non-profit public aquarium located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It opened in 1992 on the banks of the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga, with a major expansion added in 2005. The aquarium, which has ...
, opened in 1992; the
Creative Discovery Museum The Creative Discovery Museum is a children's museum located in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was opened on May 26, 1995. The museum contains art, music, and field science areas, along with a water-themed zone called RiverPlay, a rooftop exhi ...
, opened in 1995; and the historic Walnut Street Bridge, reopened in 1993. The downtown footprint is bounded by interstate highway I-24 on the south to Frazier Avenue in the Northshore, as well as US highway 27 in the west to Central Avenue in the east. The modern downtown skyline is dominated by the Aquarium, the Republic Centre (tallest building in Chattanooga), John C. Portman Jr.'s the Westin (Gold Building), the James Building (Chattanooga's first skyscraper), and The Block, a climbing gym with 5,000 square feet of functional climbing space. Chattanooga has buildings with historical significance, such as The Read House Hotel (the longest continuously operating hotel in the
Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...
), the
Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel The Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel (formerly known as Terminal Station) in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a former railroad station once owned and operated by the Southern Railway. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the station is curre ...
(a converted railroad terminal), the Maclellan Building, the Dome Building (once the home to the Chattanooga Times), and the Tivoli Theatre. The BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee headquarters, atop Cameron Hill, is the second-largest LEED Gold-certified corporate campus in the nation. Downtown Chattanooga has four main bridges over the Tennessee River: the Walnut Street Bridge, the Market Street Bridge, the Olgiati Bridge, and the Veterans Memorial Bridge. These bridges allow pedestrians to connect the Riverfront and Northshore to the
Tennessee Riverwalk The Tennessee Riverwalk is a 13-mile (21-km) Foreshoreway, riverside path which parallels the Tennessee River from the Chickamauga Dam to downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Riverpark System featuring the Tennessee Riverp ...
and Bluff View Art District. Downtown Chattanooga parks include
Coolidge Park Coolidge Park is a park located on the North Shore of Chattanooga, Tennessee along the Tennessee River. It has an interactive water fountain, rock climbing, a pavilion, picnic amenities, a military memorial, and a 100-year old restored antique ...
, Renaissance Park, Miller Park, Miller Plaza and Main Terrain Art Park. The Martin Luther King District runs parallel to the
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT-Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is one of four universities and two other affiliated institutions in the ...
's campus and features the largest mural in Chattanooga. The 40,000-square-foot mural was created by Philadelphia-based muralist Meg Saligman and seven other local artists.


Downtown revitalization

In late 20th and early 21st centuries, substantial private and governmental resources have been invested in transforming the city's tarnished image. In 1993, restoration of the Walnut Street Bridge was completed. An excellent specimen of the Camelback truss bridge, it is the oldest surviving bridge of its kind in the Southeastern United States, having been built in 1891. Efforts to improve the city include the "21st Century Waterfront Plan" – a $120 million redevelopment of the Chattanooga waterfront area, which was completed in 2005. The Tennessee Aquarium, which opened in 1992, has become a major waterfront attraction that has helped to spur neighborhood development. Since the opening of the aquarium, downtown Chattanooga has received over $5 billion of private investment, including nearly $1 billion from 2014 to 2018. The city has won three national awards for outstanding "livability", and nine Gunther Blue Ribbon Awards for excellence in housing and consolidated planning. Public art experts chose Passageways 2.0 City Thread from among 50 outstanding public art projects created in 2018 through the Public Art Network Year in Review program, a national program that recognizes compelling public art. In addition to winning various national and regional awards, Chattanooga has been in the national limelight numerous times. Chattanooga was the profile city of the August 2007 edition of ''US Airways Magazine''. Chattanooga-based businesses have been recognized for their investment in solar energy. In December 2009, Chattanooga was ranked 8th out of America's 100 largest metro areas for the best "Bang For Your Buck" city, according to ''Forbes'' magazine, which measured overall affordability, housing rates, and more.


Neighborhoods

Chattanooga has many buildings and three neighborhoods 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 v ...
:
Ferger Place Ferger Place Historic District in Chattanooga, Tennessee was so named and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. "Ferger Place" was founded in 1910 as the first exclusively White gated community ("restricted private park") so ...
, Fort Wood, and St. Elmo. Additionally, Chattanooga has several local historic districts: Battery Place, Glenwood, Missionary Ridge, M.L. King, and
Stringer's Ridge Stringer's Ridge Preservation Easement, generally known as Stringer's Ridge, is a 92 acre wilderness park located in North Chattanooga, Tennessee, Chattanooga, Tennessee. The ridge overlooks the North Shore, the Tennessee River and downtown Chatta ...
. Four of these are formally managed as local historic districts by the city. *
East Brainerd East Brainerd is an unincorporated community and former census-designated place (CDP) in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 14,132 at the 2000 census and was not recorded at the 2010 census. It is part of the Chattanoo ...
*
Ferger Place Ferger Place Historic District in Chattanooga, Tennessee was so named and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. "Ferger Place" was founded in 1910 as the first exclusively White gated community ("restricted private park") so ...
* Fort Wood * Highland Park, Chattanooga, Highland Park * Lupton City, Chattanooga, Lupton City *
Missionary Ridge Missionary Ridge is a geographic feature in Chattanooga, Tennessee, site of the Battle of Missionary Ridge, a battle in the American Civil War, fought on November 25, 1863. Union forces under Maj. Gens. Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, a ...
* St. Elmo * Tiftonia, Tennessee, Lookout Valley * Tyner, Tennessee, Tyner


Notable suburbs

* Apison, Tennessee * Chickamauga, Georgia * Collegedale, Tennessee * East Brainerd, Tennessee * East Ridge, Tennessee *
Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia Fort Oglethorpe is a city predominantly in Catoosa County with some portions in Walker County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,423. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan St ...
* Harrison, Tennessee * Hixson, Tennessee * LaFayette, Georgia * Lookout Mountain, Georgia * Lookout Mountain, Tennessee * Ooltewah, Tennessee * Red Bank, Tennessee * Ridgeside, Tennessee * Ringgold, Georgia * Rossville, Georgia * Sale Creek, Tennessee * Signal Mountain, Tennessee * Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee * Trenton, Georgia * Walden, Tennessee


Climate

Chattanooga, like much of Tennessee, has a four-season humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification, Köppen ''Cfa''). Winter days are usually mild, but most years have at least one day (average 3.2) where the high remains at or below freezing. Snowfall is highly variable from year to year. were recorded between January 9–10, 2011. Summers are hot and humid, with a July daily mean of and 52 days annually with or greater temperatures. Chattanooga is the sixth fastest warming city in the United States due to climate change. Average annual precipitation is over . On average, November through March represents an extended relatively wet period, because of Chattanooga's frequent placement (in the winter season) in a zone of conflict between warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and cold, dry air from Canada, amplified by jet-stream energy and abundant Gulf moisture. July presents a secondary maximum in precipitation, due to frequent thunderstorm activity. Despite the mountains that surround the city, Chattanooga has been affected by tornadoes. These tornadoes include the 2011 Super Outbreak, which impacted the city and nearby locations, including Apison, Tennessee, Apison and Cherokee Valley in Catoosa County, Georgia, where fifteen people died, eight in Apison and seven in Cherokee Valley. An 2020 Easter tornado outbreak#Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia/Chattanooga–Ooltewah, Tennessee, EF3 tornado struck southeastern portions of Chattanooga on the night of April 12, 2020, and caused significant damage and three fatalities.


Time zone

Chattanooga uses the Eastern Time Zone. Counties directly to its west (in both Tennessee and Alabama) use the Central Time Zone.


Demographics


2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 181,099 people, 79,565 households, and 41,059 families residing in the city.


2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, census of 2010, there were 167,674 people, 70,749 households, and 40,384 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 79,607 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 58.0% White (U.S. Census), White, 34.9% African American (U.S. Census), Black, 2.0% Asian (U.S. Census), Asian, 0.4% Native American (U.S. Census), American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander (U.S. Census), Pacific Islander, 2.8% from Race (United States Census), other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Persons of Hispanics in the United States, Hispanic or Latino (U.S. Census), Latino origin (regardless of race) constituted 5.5% of the total population. Non-Hispanic Whites were 55.9% of the population in 2010, down from 67.3% in 1980. There were 70,749 households, out of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36% were married couples living together, 17.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42% were non-families. 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 26% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.94. In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.3% under the age of 18, 11.5% from 18 to 24, 27% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.1 years. 46.1% of the population was male and 53.9% of the population was female. The median income for a household in the city was $35,817, and the median income for a family was $43,314. Males had a median income of $36,109 versus $31,077 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,756. About 14% of families and 16.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over. Chattanooga's Chattanooga metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Hamilton, Marion County, Tennessee, Marion, and Sequatchie County, Tennessee, Sequatchie counties in Tennessee and Catoosa County, Georgia, Catoosa, Dade County, Tennessee, Dade, and Walker County, Georgia, Walker counties in Georgia, grew from 476,531 people, as of the 2000 census, to 529,222 people, as of the 2010 census, an 11% increase during the 2000s.


Religion

The single largest religious group in Chattanooga is Christianity. According to 2010 statistics, the Southern Baptist Convention was the largest denomination with 225 congregations and 122,300 members; followed by the United Methodist Church with 31,500 members and 83 churches. The third-largest group of Christians identified as Nondenominational Christianity, non-denominational congregations; and the fourth-largest organized denomination was the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) with 82 churches and 17,900 members. The 5th largest Christian religious group, according to 2010 United States Census, 2010 statistics, was the Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, which had 12 congregations and 14,300 members. Islam has 2,200 adherents in Chattanooga.


Economy

Chattanooga's economy includes a diversified and growing mix of manufacturing and service industries. Notable Chattanooga businesses include Access America Transport, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, CBL & Associates Properties, CBL & Associates, Chattanooga Bakery, inc., The Chattanooga Bakery, Sanofi, the world's first Coca-Cola bottling plant, Coker Tire, U.S. Xpress Inc., Covenant Logistics, Double Cola, CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, Luken Communications, Miller & Martin, the National Model Railroad Association, PepsiCo, Reliance Partners, Republic Parking System, Rock/Creek, Tricycle Inc., and Unum. The city also hosts large branch offices of Cigna, AT&T Inc., AT&T, T-Mobile USA, and UBS AG, UBS. McKee Foods Corporation, the maker of nationally known Little Debbie brand snack cakes, is a privately held, family-run company headquartered in nearby Collegedale, Tennessee. Notable companies that have manufacturing or distribution facilities in the city include Amazon.com, BASF, DuPont, Invista, Komatsu Limited, Komatsu, PepsiCo, Rock-Tenn, Plantronics, Domtar, Norfolk Southern, Ferrara Candy Company (manufacturer of Brach's, Brach's candies), Akzo Nobel, Alco Chemical, Colonial Pipeline, and Buzzi Unicem. The William Wrigley Jr. Company has a prominent presence in Chattanooga, the sole site of production of Altoids breath mint products since 2005. In a seminal event for Chattanooga, Volkswagen announced in July 2008 the construction of its first U.S. auto plant in over three decades, the Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant. In May 2011, Volkswagen Group of America inaugurated its plant. The $1 billion plant, opened in May 2011, served as the group's North American manufacturing headquarters. The plant, which initially employed 2,700 people, later increasing to 4,700, manufactures the Volkswagen Passat NMS, Passat and the Volkswagen Atlas, Atlas. It also has a full research and development center in downtown Chattanooga, employing some 200 engineers, the first of its kind in the South. The plant was the first new Volkswagen plant in the United States since the 1988 closure of the Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant near New Stanton, Pennsylvania. In 2019, Volkswagen Chattanooga announced plans to expand its Chattanooga-based plant to construct electric vehicles. The expansion is expected to create one thousand new jobs and $800 million in investments. In addition to corporate business interests, there are many retail shops in Chattanooga, including two shopping malls: Hamilton Place Mall in East Brainerd and Northgate Mall (Hixson), Northgate Mall in Hixson, Tennessee, Hixson. Eastgate Mall (Chattanooga), Eastgate Mall in Brainerd used to be a shopping mall, but has changed into a multi-use office building. Tourism and Hospitality has been a growing part of Chattanooga's economy, with 2014 being the first year for Hamilton County to surpass $1 billion in revenue. Startups have been an increasing trend, due in part to EPB's fiber optic grid. Notable venture firms based in the city are Blank Slate Ventures, Chattanooga Renaissance Fund, Lamp Post Group, SwiftWing Ventures, and the Jump Fund. The city is served by several incubators, notably Co.Lab, the Business Development Center, and Lamp Post Group. The Business Development Center is among the nation's largest incubators, both in square footage and in the number of startups that it supports. Co-working spaces have picked up downtown, including Society of Work and Chattanooga Workspace. Unique in the city is the startup accelerator Gigtank, which utilizes the city's gigabit capacities and focuses on 3D printing, healthcare, and smartgrid technologies. Notable startups include Quickcue (acquired by OpenTable in 2013), and Reliance Partners. Chattanooga went from zero investable capital in 2009 to over $50 million in 2014.


Utilities

Electric power for most of the city and surrounding area is provided by the city-run EPB, Electric Power Board (EPB). EPB also provides high-speed Internet service, TV, and telephone service to business and residential customers throughout Hamilton County, as well as parts of Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Bledsoe County, Bradley County, Tennessee, Bradley County, Catoosa County, Georgia, Catoosa County, Dade County, Georgia, Dade County, Marion County, Rhea County, Tennessee, Rhea County, Sequatchie County, Tennessee, Sequatchie County, and Walker County, Georgia, Walker County, via the nation's largest municipally owned fiber optic system. TVA operates the nearby Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant, Chickamauga Dam, and the Raccoon Mountain Pumped-Storage Plant, all of which provide electricity to the greater Chattanooga area. TVA's corporate power generation and distribution organization is headquartered in downtown Chattanooga. Natural gas and water are provided by the privately run AGL Resources, Chattanooga Gas Company and American Water (company), Tennessee-American Water Company, respectively. In 2005, Mayor Ron Littlefield stated his desire for the city to purchase the Tennessee-American Water Company, which was sold in a public offering in 2007. Former Mayor Jon Kinsey's attempts to have the city buy control of Tennessee-American Water were defeated in court. EPB, EPB Fiber Optics is the dominant cable television, cable and internet service provider for most areas of the city. The Incumbent local exchange carrier, incumbent telephone company is AT&T Inc. However, Competitive local exchange carrier, competing phone companies, such as EPB, cellular phones, and VoIP are making inroads. A major interstate fiber optics line operated by AT&T traverses the city, making its way from Atlanta to Cincinnati. There are more choices among TV, Internet, and phone service providers for Chattanooga residents than in most other cities its size because of the intense competition between AT&T, Comcast, and EPB.


EPB's gigabit public fiber optic network

Beginning in 2009 and continuing through March 2011, when Haletown, Tennessee, received service from EPB's fiber optic network, EPB began to establish its exclusive fiber optic network to its service area, which covers the greater Chattanooga Chattanooga metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. In September 2010, EPB became the first municipally-owned utilities company in the United States to offer internet access directly to the public at speeds up to ten gigabit (10,000 megabits) per second. The network has been emulated by at least six other cities in Tennessee and studied by other cities in the U.S. and internationally. Jay Weatherill, South Australia's Premier, visited Chattanooga in January 2012 and studied the gigabit network that was supporting critical city safety functions such as police and fire communications infrastructure, equipment and applications. He also inspected wastewater management, storm water management, traffic control and medical diagnostics applications, as well as operations of a smart lighting and camera system that allows the police to control public lighting and see what is happening in heavy crime areas. The use of broadband to carry the video and control signaling has contributed to making Chattanooga's Coolidge Park a safer place to visit. In 2011, the expansion of EPB's network became a subject of major controversy in Tennessee. The success of its network, credited with the expansion of Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant and the establishment of Amazon.com facilities in Chattanooga and Cleveland, Tennessee, Cleveland, led to a number of legal challenges by AT&T and Comcast insisting that public funds not be used to fund expansion of public networks in competition with private ones. However, according to EPB, federal agencies, electricity industry trade sources, and other press sources, the investment in the fully fiber optic network is justified by electrical system benefits alone, including early fault detection and decreases in standby power.


Banking

As of 2014, there are 27 banks operating in the Chattanooga metropolitan area, lending to financial strength. Among the larger banks are regional banks First Horizon Bank, Truist Financial, and Regions Financial Corporation, but the area also has offices from UBS, Chase (bank), Chase, and Bank of America. In part to the strength and growing economic development, Chase recently shifted its East Tennessee headquarters from Knoxville to Chattanooga. In early 2015, three locally owned banks and one in nearby Cleveland, Tennessee, were acquired by other banks. CapitalMark, formed in 2007, will be acquired by the Nashville-based Pinnacle Financial Partners for $187 million to have the fourth largest market share in the Chattanooga metro area. First Security Group, Inc, the largest Chattanooga-based bank, formed in 2000, will be acquired by the Atlanta-based Atlantic Capital Bancshares, Inc., for $160 million. Cornerstone, started in 1985, will merge with the Knoxville-based SmartBank in a stock deal. Cleveland's Southern Heritage Bank was acquired in 2014 by First Citizens National Bank in Dyersburg, Tennessee, for $32.2 million. All these mergers only leave one Chattanooga-based, independent bank, First Volunteer Bank. Others in the area locally based include Dunlap, Tennessee-based Citizens Tri-County Bank, Ooltewah-based Community Trust and Banking Co., Dayton, Tennessee-based Community National Bank,
Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia Fort Oglethorpe is a city predominantly in Catoosa County with some portions in Walker County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,423. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan St ...
-based Capital Bank, LaFayette, Georgia-based Bank of LaFayette, and Cleveland-based Bank of Cleveland.


Culture and tourism


Museums

As the birthplace of the tow truck, Chattanooga is the home of the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum. Another transportation icon, the passenger train, can be found at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, called TVRM by locals, which is the largest operating historic railroad in the South. Chattanooga is home to the Hunter Museum of American Art. Other notable museums include the Chattanooga History Center, the National Medal of Honor Museum, the Houston Museum of Decorative Arts, the Chattanooga African American Museum, and the
Creative Discovery Museum The Creative Discovery Museum is a children's museum located in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was opened on May 26, 1995. The museum contains art, music, and field science areas, along with a water-themed zone called RiverPlay, a rooftop exhi ...
.


Arts and literature

Chattanooga has a wide range of performing arts in different venues. Chattanooga's historic Tivoli Theatre, dating from 1921 and one of the first public air-conditioned buildings in the United States, is home to the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera (CSO), which became the first merged symphony and opera company in the United States in 1985. The CSO performs under the baton of Kayoko Dan. 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 the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium. It was built between 1922 and 1924 by John Parks, General Contractors, and was designed by the architect R.H. Hunt, who also designed the Tivoli Theatre in Chattanooga. Chattanooga hosts several writing conferences, including the Conference on Southern Literature and the Festival of Writers, both sponsored by the Arts & Education Council of Chattanooga.


Attractions

Chattanooga touts many attractions, including the
Tennessee Aquarium The Tennessee Aquarium is a non-profit public aquarium located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It opened in 1992 on the banks of the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga, with a major expansion added in 2005. The aquarium, which has ...
, caverns, and new waterfront attractions along and across 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 ...
. In the downtown area is the Terminal Station (Chattanooga), Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel, housed in the renovated Terminal Station. Also downtown are the
Creative Discovery Museum The Creative Discovery Museum is a children's museum located in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was opened on May 26, 1995. The museum contains art, music, and field science areas, along with a water-themed zone called RiverPlay, a rooftop exhi ...
, a hands-on children's museum dedicated to science, art, and music; an IMAX 3D Theatre, and the newly expanded Hunter Museum of American Art. The
Tennessee Riverwalk The Tennessee Riverwalk is a 13-mile (21-km) Foreshoreway, riverside path which parallels the Tennessee River from the Chickamauga Dam to downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Riverpark System featuring the Tennessee Riverp ...
, an approximately trail running alongside the river, is another attraction for both tourists and residents alike. Across the river from downtown is the North Shore district, roughly bounded by the P. R. Olgiati Bridge, Olgiati Bridge to the west and Veterans Bridge to the east. The newly renovated area draws locals and tourists to locally owned independent boutique stores and restaurants, plus attractions along the Chattanooga Riverpark system, including Coolidge Park and Renaissance Park. The Chattanooga Zoo at Warner Park is at 301 North Holtzclaw Avenue, a short distance from the downtown area. Hours of operation are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. In 1937, the first small exhibit was "established with the construction of a 4x6' cage for two Rhesus Monkeys." The Zoo has since grown, as in 2017, "the Zoo kicked off the year with the announcement of the Kits and Cubs Program, which is a unique early childhood learning program designed specifically for the youngest of animal lovers." And in May 2017, "the Zoo broke ground to expand the Corcovado Jungle exhibit adding six new outdoor and six new indoor exhibits to house small South American monkeys and mammals in June." Parks and natural scenic areas provide other attractions. The red-and-black painted "Rock City (roadside attraction), See Rock City" barns along highways in the U.S. Southern states, Southeast are remnants of a now-classic Americana (culture), Americana tourism campaign to attract visitors to the Rock City (roadside attraction), Rock City tourist attraction in nearby Lookout Mountain, Georgia. The mountain is also the site of Ruby Falls and Craven's House. The Lookout Mountain Incline Railway is a steep funicular railway that rises from the St. Elmo Historic District (Chattanooga, Tennessee), St. Elmo Historic District to the top of the mountain, where passengers can visit the National Park Service's Point Park and the Battles for Chattanooga Museum. Formerly known as Confederama, the museum includes a diorama that details the Second Battle of Chattanooga, Battle of Chattanooga. From the military park, visitors can enjoy panoramic views of Moccasin Bend and the Chattanooga skyline from the mountain's famous "point" or from vantage points along the well-marked trail system. Near Chattanooga, the Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Plant, 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 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, features rafting, kayaking, camping, and hiking. Just outside Chattanooga is the Lake Winnepesaukah amusement park. The Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park, Cumberland Trail begins in Signal Mountain, just outside Chattanooga. File:TN Aquarium 01.jpg, The Tennessee Aquarium's River Journey building File:TN Aquarium 02.jpg, The Tennessee Aquarium's Ocean Journey building File:Water steps.jpg, Trail of Tears water steps off of Market Street, downtown Chattanooga File:Coolidge park chattanooga.JPG, Coolidge Park File:Walnut Street Bridge; Chattanooga, Tennessee; April 5, 2013.JPG, Walnut Street Bridge File:Chattanooga.jpg, Looking south towards Lookout Mountain


Festivals and events

Chattanooga hosts the well-known Riverbend Festival, an annual four-day music festival held in June in the downtown area. One of the most popular events is the "Bessie Smith Strut", a one-night showcase of blues and jazz music named for the city's most noted blues singer. The annual "Southern Brewer's Festival" and the "River Roast" festival celebrate such traditional Southern staples as beer and barbecue. New events, such as GoFest!, the "Between the Bridges" wakeboard competition, Heritage Festival, and Talespin, complement well-established events, such as Riverbend and the Southern Brewer's Festival, and attract their own audiences. Back Row Films is a citywide celebration of film co-sponsored by the Hunter Museum of American Art, the Arts & Education Council, and UTC. "Nightfall" is a free weekly concert series in Miller Plaza on Friday nights that features an eclectic mix of Rock music, rock, blues, jazz, reggae, zydeco, funk, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and folk music from Memorial Day until the end of September. The Chattanooga Market features events all year round as part of the "Sunday at the Southside", including an Oktoberfest in mid-October. The Chattanooga Dulcimer Festival, held each June, features workshops for mountain dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, and auto harp, among others, along with performances by champion performers from across the nation. Chattanooga is also the center of much bluegrass music. In 1935, as well as from 1993 to 1995, the city hosted the National Folk Festival (USA), National Folk Festival. Since 2007, the annual 3 Sisters Festival showcases traditional and contemporary bluegrass artists, and has been named one of the country's "5 Best" bluegrass festivals by Great American Country. Each January, Chattanooga plays host to Chattacon, a science fiction and fantasy literary convention. The convention is organized by the nonprofit Chattanooga Speculative Fiction Fans, Inc. First held in 1976, the convention drew an estimated 1,000 attendees to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel in 2012, as well as an estimated 1,300 attendees in 2013. Since 2014, Chattanooga has been home to the Chattanooga Film Festival, an annual film festival. Moon River Festival is held every September in Coolidge Park.


Sports

Chattanooga has a large, growing, and diversified sports scene for a city of its size, including college sports, minor league baseball, semi-professional teams, professional cycling exemplified by the Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships, the Ironman Triathlon, and a large nationally renowned regatta the first weekend of November.


Organized sports


College sports

Chattanooga was the home of the NCAA Division I Football Championship game, which was held at W. Max Finley Stadium, Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, from 1997 to 2009. The
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT-Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is one of four universities and two other affiliated institutions in the ...
(UTC) Mocs compete in NCAA Division I and the Southern Conference. UTC's athletic programs include football at the Football Championship Subdivision, FCS level, women's soccer, volleyball, and cross country in the fall; men's and women's basketball, collegiate wrestling, Wrestling, and indoor track & field in the winter; and softball and outdoor track & field in the spring. Men's and women's golf and men's and women's tennis play in the fall and spring.


Semi-Pro and Minor League Baseball

The Chattanooga Lookouts, a Class minor league baseball, AA Double-A South baseball team affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds, play at the riverfront AT&T Field. Chattanooga also is home to several semi-professional American football, football teams, including the Tennessee Crush and the Chattanooga Steam. The Tennessee Crush plays its games at Finley Stadium in downtown Chattanooga. The Chattanooga Steam plays at Lookout Valley Middle High School, Lookout Valley High School near Lookout Mountain.


Professional soccer

The city has two professional soccer teams. From 2009 to 2019, Chattanooga FC played in the National Premier Soccer League, but is moved to an unsanctioned professional league (National Independent Soccer Association, NISA) in 2020. Founded in 2009,"Chattanooga Football Club Scores Some Serious Funding on Wefunder"
April 4, 2019
Chattanooga FC has gone to the national finals four times since its inception, and drew a record 18,227 fans for their 2015 NPSL title match. The club has also found success in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, U.S. Open Cup defeating the professional United Soccer Leagues, USL's Wilmington Hammerheads to reach the tournament's third round in 2014 and 2015. In 2019, Chattanooga FC became one of the founding members of NPSL's Founders Cup, a group of eleven teams playing a professional tournament in the fall before forming a fully professional league in 2020. To support this, Chattanooga FC became only the second sports team in the U.S., after the Green Bay Packers, to sell supporter shares in the team. These moves were partially in response to a USL League One franchise, the Chattanooga Red Wolves SC starting play in the 2019 inaugural season of that new third-tier professional league under the direction of Chattanooga FC's former general manager. The Red Wolves are play in USL League One and intend to build a multi-million dollar soccer specific stadium in the neighboring town of East Ridge, Tennessee. Before the proposed stadium was built, the Red Wolves had a legal battle with Arkansas State, with ASU sending them a cease-and-desist letter in November 2019. The stadium was announced as CHI Memorial Stadium, and was opened for play and fans in 2020 while still under construction. It will hold an estimated 5,000 fans for soccer matches.


Rugby

Chattanooga is also home to several rugby teams: the Chattanooga Rugby Football Club, Nooga Red, Nooga Black, men's Old Boys, a women's rugby team, men's and women's teams at UTC, and an all-city high school team. The Chattanooga Rugby Football Club, which was established in 1978 and the 2011 and 2013 DII MidSouth Rugby Football Union, Mid South champions, is affiliated with USA Rugby and USA Rugby South. The club fields two teams, Nooga Red, which competes in Division II, and Nooga Black, which competes in Division III. There is also a men's Old Boys team, a Chattanooga women's rugby team, as well as collegiate men's and women's teams representing the Mocs at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. A citywide high school rugby team, the Wolfpack, was established in 2012 and is open to any high school player living in the Chattanooga area. All seven teams play their home matches at Montague Park.


Outdoor sports

Rowing The Head of the Hooch rowing regatta takes place along the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga during the first weekend of November. The head race originally took place on the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta before moving to Chattanooga in 2005, hence the name "Head of the Hooch". With 1,965 boats in 2011 and nearly 2,000 boats in 2012, this competition ranks as the 2nd largest regatta in the United States, with numerous college and youth teams, such as UNC Men's Crew, Vanderbilt Rowing Club, James Madison University Crew, University of Tennessee Women's Rowing, Orlando Rowing Club, Nashville Rowing Club, Newport Rowing Club, and Chattanooga Rowing, competing. There are also multiple local rowing clubs, such as the Lookout Rowing Club for adults and the Chattanooga Junior Rowing Club for high school students. The weekend of the Head of the Hooch also sees hot-air balloon rides and other activities. Cycling In 2013, the Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships were held in Chattanooga. The schedule for the 3-day event on May 25–27 featured a Handcycle, handcycling time trail and various other cycle sport, cycling time trials and road races, including a men's Road bicycle racing, road race that took the cyclists through the heart of downtown Chattanooga and up Lookout Mountain for a total race distance of . American professional cyclist Fred Rodriguez, Freddie Rodriguez won the United States National Road Race Championships, national road race championship title for the fourth time in his career. The Championships' debut in Chattanooga marked the first time in the event's 29-year history that women were allowed to compete for professional national titles. Chattanooga will also host the Championships in 2014 and 2015. The city is home to the Chattanooga Bicycle Club. It was established in 1967 to "encourage and promote bicycle riding and safety, and to foster good relationships between cyclists and motorists by demonstrating courtesy and respect the law." The Chattanooga Bicycle Club advocates for transportation, fitness, and recreation, as well as health and wellness. This club is in relative with the League of American Bicyclists (LAB), Adventure Cycling, Bike Chattanooga, and Outdoor Chattanooga. Running Due to its location at the junction of the Cumberland Plateau and the southern Appalachian Mountains, Appalachians, Chattanooga has become a haven for outdoor sports, and has even been named Outside Magazine's "Best Town Ever" twice such as hunting, fishing, trail running, road running, adventure racing, rock climbing, mountain biking, and road biking. The internationally known StumpJump 50k has been hosted on nearby Signal Mountain since 2002. The Erlanger Half Marathon and Marathon have become a large part of the spring activities in Chattanooga in recent years. These events are orchestrated by the Chattanooga Sports Committee, and the half marathon course and marathon course are designed by the same group of runners. The course is subject to change throughout the years. The most recent marathon and half marathon were held on March 3, 2019. Triathlons In August 2013, further cementing Chattanooga's growing status as a nationally recognized outdoor haven, the Chattanooga Sports Committee, an organization established in 1992 to help the city host major sporting events, announced that the Ironman Triathlon would be coming to the city in a 5-year deal. The city became one of only 11 cities in the United States to host the grueling competition showcasing Chattanooga's natural beauty, which consists of a swim, a bike race (which is broken down into two loops), and a run (which is broken down into two loops). The event has a $40,000 prize purse and chances to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. On November 4, 2014, it was announced that Chattanooga would host The Ironman 70.3 event, also known as the Half Ironman, in addition to the standard Ironman Triathlon. This event consists of a swim, bike ride, and run, and has a prize pot of $30,000. On September 29, 2015, The Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau announced that Ironman had chosen Chattanooga, Tennessee to host the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Awards Chattanooga has been a member of the League of American Bicyclists' Bronze level since October 2003, the only city in Tennessee to be a member of the organization before Knoxville and Nashville joined in 2010 and 2012, respectively. The city has 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. In September 2004, the city appointed its first-ever executive director of Outdoor Chattanooga to implement the organization's mission, which includes promoting bicycling for transportation, recreation, and active living. For paddlers, Chattanooga offers the Tennessee River Blueway, a recreational section 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 name ...
that flows through Chattanooga and the Tennessee River Gorge. The
Tennessee Aquarium The Tennessee Aquarium is a non-profit public aquarium located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It opened in 1992 on the banks of the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga, with a major expansion added in 2005. The aquarium, which has ...
has a high speed catamaran, the ''River Gorge Explorer'', to allow up to 70 people to explore the Tennessee River Gorge. The ''Explorer'' departs from the Chattanooga Pier. Since 2008, Chattanooga has hosted the Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship, the crowning event of the largest disc dog competition series in the world.


Media and communications

The city of Chattanooga is served by numerous local, regional, and national media outlets which reach approximately one million people in four states: 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 ...
, Alabama, and North Carolina.


Newspapers

The ''Chattanooga Times Free Press'', the area's only daily newspaper, is published every morning. It was formed in 1999 from the merger of two papers that had been bitter rivals for half a century, the ''Times'' and the ''News-Free Press''. The ''Times'' was owned and published by Adolph Ochs, who later bought ''The New York Times''. The ''Times'' was the morning paper and had a generally more liberal editorial page. The ''Chattanooga News-Free Press, News-Free Press'', whose name was the result of an earlier merger, was an afternoon daily and its editorials were more conservative than those in the ''Times''. On August 27, 1966, the ''News-Free Press'' became the first newspaper in the nation to dissolve a joint operating agreement. In 1999, the ''Free Press'', which had changed its name from ''News-Free Press'' in 1993, was bought by an Arkansas company, WEHCO Media, publisher of the ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette,'' which then bought The ''Times'' from the Ochs heirs. The ''Times Free Press'' is the only newspaper in the United States to have two editorial pages, reflecting opposite ends of the political spectrum. The ''Times''s editorial page, which is liberal, is on the left page and the ''Free Press''s editorial page, which is conservative, is on the right. The ''Chattanooga Pulse'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper, published every Wednesday, that focuses primarily on arts, music, film and culture. It was formed in 2003 by Zachary Cooper and Michael Kull, running independently until 2008, when the paper was purchased by Brewer Media Group, which also owns and operates five radio stations in the city. ''Enigma'' is a free monthly pop culture and entertainment magazine. Founded as a weekly newspaper in 1995 by David Weinthal, ''Enigma'' lays claim to being Chattanooga's oldest alternative newspaper, even though it had ceased physical publication from 2013 until it resumed as a monthly magazine in 2015. The ''Chattanooga News Chronicle'' is an African-American weekly newspaper.


Online media

''The Chattanoogan'' and its website "Chattanoogan.com", established in 1999, is an online media outlet that concentrates on news from Chattanooga, North Georgia, and Southeast Tennessee. The publisher is John Wilson, previously a staff writer for the ''Chattanooga Free Press''. The ''Chattanoogan'' is the oldest online newspaper in Chattanooga. ''Nooga.com'', purchased in November 2010 by local entrepreneur Barry Large, relaunched in 2011 as a local news website offering "quality daily content focusing on local business, politics, and entertainment in the Chattanooga area." In August 2018, Nooga.com partnered with Greenville, S.C.-based media company 6AM City. The outlet was rebranded and relaunched as NOOGAtoday in September 2018. While NOOGAtoday's primary product is its daily email newsletter, it also publishes content on its social media accounts and website.


Radio

Chattanooga is served by the following AM and FM radio stations:


AM

*WDYN 980 AM broadcasting, AM – Southern Gospel / WDYN Radio, operated by Tennessee Temple University (licensed to Rossville, GA) *WFLI (AM), WFLI 1070 AM – Top 40 from the '60s & '70s (licensed to Chattanooga-Lookout Mountain, TN) *WGOW (AM), WGOW 1150 AM – News Talk / NewsRadio 1150 (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) *WNOO 1260 AM – Urban gospel and Motown (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) *WXCT 1370 AM – Sports / 1370 Fox Sports Radio (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) *WLMR 1450 AM – Christian Talk (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) *WJOC 1490 AM – Southern Gospel (licensed to Chattanooga, TN)


FM

*WUTC 88.1 FM broadcasting, FM – NPR/Mixed music / Music 88. Operated by UTC. First station in Chattanooga to broadcast in HD Radio. (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) *W203AZ 88.5 FM – Religious / CSN International (Licensed to Chattanooga, TN) *WMBW 88.9 FM – Christian / Moody Radio For The Heart of the Southeast. Owned and operated by Moody Bible Institute. (Licensed to Chattanooga, TN) *WYBK 89.7 FM – Christian. Operated by Bible Broadcasting Network. (Licensed to Chattanooga, TN) *W211BG 90.1 FM – Religious (Licensed to Walden, TN) *WSMC 90.5 FM – Classical/NPR/PRI Operated by Southern Adventist University. (licensed to Collegedale, TN) *WJBP 91.5 FM – Christian / Family Life Radio (licensed to Red Bank, TN) *WAWL – College Alternative / The Wawl (web only / formerly broadcasting on 91.5) Chattanooga State Community College (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) *WDEF-FM 92.3 FM – Adult Contemporary / Sunny 92.3 (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) *WSAA 93.1 FM – Christian Rock / Air 1 (licensed to Benton, TN) *WMPZ 93.5 FM – Urban Adult Contemporary / Groove 93 (licensed to Harrison, TN) *WJTT 94.3 FM – Urban contemporary / Power 94 (licensed to Red Bank, TN) *WAAK-LP 94.7 FM – Variety (low power station licensed to Boynton/Ringgold, GA) *WALV-FM 95.3 FM – ESPN Chattanooga (licensed to Ooltewah, TN) *WUSY 96.1 FM - Classic Country / The Legend 96.1 *WDOD-FM, WDOD 96.5 FM – Hits 96.5—Chattanooga's No. 1 Hit Music Station (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) *WUUQ 97.3 and 99.3 FM – Classic Country / Q Country 97.3/99.3 (licensed to South Pittsburg, TN) *WLND 98.1 FM – Hot AC / 98.1 The Lake (licensed to Signal Mountain, TN) *WOOP-LP 99.9 FM – Classic country, old-time gospel, bluegrass, and mountain music. Operated by the Traditional Music Resource Center (licensed to Cleveland, TN) *WUSY 100.7 FM – Contemporary Country / US101 (licensed to Cleveland, TN) *WJSQ 101.7 FM – Contemporary and Classic country / 101.7 WLAR (licensed to Athens, TN) *WOCE (FM), WOCE 101.9 FM – Spanish (licensed to Ringgold, GA) *WGOW-FM, WGOW 102.3 FM – Talk Radio 102.3 (licensed to Soddy-Daisy, TN) *WBDX 102.7 FM – Contemporary Christian (licensed to Trenton, GA) *WJLJ 103.1 FM – Contemporary Christian (simulcast with WBDX 102.7) (licensed to Etowah, TN) *WKXJ 103.7 FM – Top 40 / 103.7 Kiss FM (licensed to Walden, TN) *WUIE 105.1 FM – American Family Radio (licensed to Lakeside, TN) *WRXR-FM 105.5 FM – Active Rock / Rock 105 (licensed to Rossville, GA) *WSKZ 106.5 FM – Classic Rock / KZ106 (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) *W295BI (WALV HD-2) Adult Contemporary / Big Easy 106.9 (licensed to Ooltewah, TN) *WOGT 107.9 FM – Country / Nash Icon (licensed to East Ridge, TN)


Television

Chattanooga's television stations include: *WRCB-TV, WRCB channel 3,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
affiliate (DT 13 / cable 4) *WOOT-LD channel 6, independent (formerly UPN) (silent) *WTVC-TV, WTVC channel 9,
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
/Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox affiliate (DT 9 / cable 10) *WDEF-TV, WDEF channel 12,
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
affiliate (DT 8 / cable 13) *WNGH-TV, WNGH channel 18, Georgia Public Broadcasting, GPB affiliate (DT 4 / cable 12) *WELF-TV, WELF channel 23, Trinity Broadcasting Network, TBN affiliate (DT 28 / cable 9) *W26BE channel 26, Three Angels Broadcasting Network, 3ABN affiliate (cable 295) *WTCI-TV, WTCI channel 45, PBS member station (DT 35 / cable 5) *WFLI-TV channel 53, The CW/MyNetworkTV affiliate (Formerly UPN and The WB) (DT 23 / cable 6) *WDSI-TV, WDSI channel 61, This TV affiliate (DT 14 / cable 11)


Law and government

The current mayor is Tim Kelly (Tennessee politician), Tim Kelly, who was elected in April 2021. The city operates under a charter granted by the Tennessee General Assembly, state legislature in 1852; the charter has been subsequently amended. The city operates under a strong mayor system, which changed from a Mayoralty in the United States, commission form of government with members voted at-large. In 1987 twelve African American city residents filed a complaint, ''Brown v. Board of Commissioners of the City of Chattanooga'', alleging that the commission-style government violated their civil rights, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965, by diluting the minority black vote. In 1989 U.S. District Judge R. Allan Edgar ruled in their favor, compelling the city to abandon the Plurality-at-large voting, at-large voting system that it had used for the 'commission' form of government, established single-member geographical minority-majority districts, districts to proportionally represent both majority and minority elements of the population according to the city's #Demographics, racial demographics, eliminated voting privileges for non-resident property owners, and created the city's current mayor-council form of government. The Chattanooga City Council has nine members, of whom four are African Americans, African American. The strong-mayor system began in 1991 after a 1990 citywide election that used the new court-ordered electoral district, district system. The city's legislative branch is represented by members from nine districts, elected from single-member districts in partisan elections. The current council members are Chip Henderson (District 1), Jenny Hill (District 2), Ken Smith (District 3), Darrin Ledford (District 4), Isiah Hester (District 5), Carol Berz (District 6), Raquetta Dotley (District 7), Marvene Noel (District 8), and Demetrus Coonrod (District 9). Chattanooga's delegation to the Tennessee House of Representatives includes Robin Smith (politician), Robin Smith (R), District 26; Patsy Hazlewood (R), District 27; Yusuf Hakeem (D), District 28; Mike Carter (politician), Mike Carter (R), District 29; and Esther Helton (R), District 30. In the Tennessee Senate, Chattanooga is divided between Districts Tennessee's 10th Senate district, 10 and Tennessee's 11th Senate district, 11 with Todd Gardenhire (R) and Bo Watson (R) representing each district respectively. Chattanooga is represented in the United States House of Representatives by Chuck Fleischmann (R), who represents the Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District, 3rd District. In the United States Senate, both Marsha Blackburn (R) and Bill Hagerty (R) have district offices in Chattanooga. Chattanooga, as the county seat of Hamilton County, is home to Chattanooga's City Courts and Hamilton County's Courts. Chattanooga is the location of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee's Southern Division, which is housed in the Joel W. Solomon Federal Building and United States Courthouse, Joel W. Solomon Federal Courthouse. The Southern Division has jurisdiction over Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Bledsoe, Bradley County, Tennessee, Bradley, Hamilton County, Tennessee, Hamilton, Marion County, Tennessee, Marion, McMinn County, Tennessee, McMinn, Meigs County, Tennessee, Meigs, Polk County, Tennessee, Polk, Rhea County, Tennessee, Rhea, and Sequatchie County, Tennessee, Sequatchie counties. The Chattanooga Police Department dates from 1852. Starting in 1883, it hired black police officers, making Chattanooga one of the first major Southern cities to have them. But after the state legislature imposed segregation, black police officers were dropped from the force. They were hired again on a permanent basis beginning on August 11, 1948, years before other major cities in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, such as
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
and Jackson, Mississippi, integrated their police departments. The first seven black officers in 1948, Thaddeus Arnold, Singer Askins, W.B. Baulridge, C.E. Black, Morris Glenn, Arthur Heard, and Thomas Patterson, were initially restricted to walking beats in black neighborhoods. In 1960, black police officers were authorized to patrol all neighborhoods and arrest white citizens.


Education


Primary and secondary education

Most of Chattanooga's primary and secondary education is funded by the government. The Public school (government funded), public schools in Chattanooga, as well as Hamilton County, have fallen under the purview of the Hamilton County Schools since the 1997 merger of the urban Chattanooga City Schools system and the mostly rural Hamilton County Schools system. The Howard School of Academics and Technology, Howard School was the first public school in the area, established in 1865 after the Civil War. Tyner High School (now Tyner Academy) was the first secondary school built east of Missionary Ridge in 1907. It is now the home of Tyner Middle Academy. The Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, the STEM School Of Chattanooga and the Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts are additional public magnet schools. The city is home to several well-known private and parochial secondary schools, including Baylor School, Boyd-Buchanan School, Chattanooga Christian School, Girls Preparatory School, McCallie School, and Notre Dame High School (Chattanooga, Tennessee), Notre Dame High School. The Siskin Children's Institute in Chattanooga is a specialized institution in the field of early childhood special education.


Higher education

A wide variety of higher education institutions can be found in Chattanooga and nearby. The
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT-Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is one of four universities and two other affiliated institutions in the ...
is the second largest campus of the University of Tennessee System, with a student population of over 11,587 as of 2017–18 school year.
Chattanooga State Community College Chattanooga State Community College (Chattanooga State or, informally, Chatt State) is a public community college in Chattanooga, Tennessee.“Chattanooga State Community College.” Educating Tennessee. Tennessee Board of Regents. http://www.tb ...
is a two-year community college with a total undergraduate enrollment of roughly 8150 students in 2018. Tennessee Temple University was a Baptist college located in the Highland Park neighborhood that is no longer operating as of 2015. Chattanooga is also home to a branch of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, which provides medical education to third- and fourth-year medical students, residents, and other medical professionals in southeast Tennessee through an affiliation with Erlanger Health System. Covenant College, a private liberal arts college operated by the Presbyterian Church in America, is located in the nearby suburb of Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and has a student population of about 1,000. Southern Adventist University is located in the suburb of Collegedale, Tennessee, and enrolls roughly 3,000 students. Richmont Graduate University is a Christian graduate school located in Chattanooga with a CACREP accredited clinical mental health counseling program as well as other ministry related degrees and a student population close to 300. Virginia College School of Business and Health offers a variety of programs leading to diplomas, associate degrees, and bachelor's degrees.


Public library

The Chattanooga Public Library opened in 1905. Since 1976, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library system had been jointly operated by the city and county governments; due to Chattanooga terminating a 1966 agreement with Hamilton County to distribute sales tax revenue equally, the city has taken over full funding responsibilities as of 2011. The city was given a Carnegie library in 1904, and the two-story purpose-built marble structure survives to this day at Eighth Street and Georgia Avenue as commercial office space. In 1939, the library moved to Douglas Street and McCallie Avenue and shared the new building with the John Storrs Fletcher Library of the University of Chattanooga. This building is now called Fletcher Hall and houses classrooms and offices for the university. In 1976, the city library moved to its third and current location at the corner of Tenth and Broad streets.


Health care

Chattanooga has three hospital systems: Erlanger Health System, Parkridge Hospital System, and CHI Memorial Hospital System. Founded in 1889, Erlanger is the seventh largest public healthcare system in the United States with more than half a million patient visits a year. Erlanger hospital, Erlanger Hospital is a non-profit academic teaching center affiliated with the University of Tennessee's College of Medicine. Erlanger is also the area's primary trauma center, a Level-One Trauma Center for adults, and the only provider of tertiary care for the residents of southeastern Tennessee, north
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 ...
, northeastern Alabama, and western North Carolina. In 2008, Erlanger was named one of the nation's "100 Top teaching hospitals for cardiovascular care" by Thomson Reuters. Erlanger has been operated by the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority since 1976. Parkridge Hospital is located east of downtown in the Glenwood district and is run by Tri-Star Healthcare. Tri-Star also operates Parkridge East Medical Center in nearby East Ridge, Tennessee, East Ridge. Memorial Hospital, which is operated by Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives, is located downtown. In 2004, Memorial was named one of the "100 Top Teaching Hospitals" by Thomson Reuters.


Transportation

Considered to be the gateway to the Deep South, along with the Midwest and the Northeastern United States, Northeast for motorists from states such as Alabama, Florida, and
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 ...
, Chattanooga's extensive transportation infrastructure has evolved into an intricate system of interstates, streets, tunnels, railroad lines, bridges, and a commercial airport. While only a midsize city, Chattanooga is ranked as having some of the worst traffic congestion of cities its size, due primarily to unusually high volumes of Trucking industry in the United States, truck traffic. A 2015 study by Cambridge Systematics found that 80% of trucks that pass through Chattanooga are destined for a different location, the highest share of any metropolitan area in the country.


Highways

Interstate 75 in Tennessee, Interstate 75 (I-75) connects Chattanooga with Knoxville to the northeast and Atlanta to the south. The eastern terminus of Interstate 24 in Tennessee, Interstate 24 (I-24) is in Chattanooga with I-75, which connects the city to Nashville to the northwest. The northern terminus of Interstate 59 (I-59) is about southwest of downtown Chattanooga in Dade County, Georgia, and connects the city to Birmingham to the southwest. A controlled-access highway, controlled-access segment of U.S. Route 27 in Tennessee, U.S. Route 27 (US 27) begins at an interchange with I-24 in downtown Chattanooga, and ends in northern Hamilton County, connecting the city with the cities of Red Bank, Tennessee, Red Bank, Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, Soddy Daisy, Dayton, Tennessee, Dayton, and Dunlap, Tennessee, Dunlap to the north. Tennessee State Route 153, State Route 153 (SR 153), some of which is controlled-access, is a major route which connects I-75 to US 27 in the eastern and northern parts of the city. A short controlled-access portion of Tennessee State Route 319, SR 319, known as DuPont Parkway, connects downtown Chattanooga to the Hixson, Tennessee, Hixson area. In addition to US 27, several other List of U.S. Highways in Tennessee, US Highways pass through Chattanooga as surface streets, and many share concurrency (road), concurrencies. They include U.S. Routes U.S. Route 11 in Tennessee, 11, U.S. Route 41 in Tennessee, 41, U.S. Route 64 in Tennessee, 64, U.S. Route 72 in Tennessee, 72, U.S. Route 76 in Tennessee, 76, and U.S. Route 127 in Tennessee, 127, the last three of which have termini in Chattanooga. US 11 and 64 form a concurrency as Brainerd Road and Lee Highway, and connect Chattanooga to Collegedale, Tennessee, Collegedale and Cleveland, Tennessee, Cleveland to the northeast. US 41/76 (Ringgold Road) connects the city to Ringgold, Georgia to the southwest, and a surface-street section of US 27 (Rossville Boulevard) connects to Rossville, Georgia, Rossville, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, Fort Oglethorpe, and LaFayette, Georgia, LaFayette, all in Georgia, to the south. Beginning in downtown and continuing for several miles to the southwest, US Routes 11, 41, 64, and 72 run together as Cummings Highway, before US 11 splits off, heading toward Trenton, Georgia. The remaining three routes continue toward Jasper, Tennessee, Jasper, where US 72 splits off headed towards
Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in ...
. US 127 (Signal Mountain Boulevard) begins in North Chattanooga at an interchange with US 27, and connects the city to Signal Mountain, Tennessee, Signal Mountain and Dunlap to the northwest. Other major List of state routes in Tennessee, state routes in Chattanooga include routes Tennessee State Route 17, 17, Tennessee State Route 58, 58 (Riverfront Parkway, Amnicola Highway), Tennessee State Route 148, 148 (Lookout Mountain Scenic Highway), Tennessee State Route 317, 317 (Bonny Oaks Drive), 319 (Hixson Pike), and Tennessee State Route 320, 320 (East Brainerd Road). Major city-maintained surface streets include Broad Street, Georgia Avenue, Gunbarrel Road, Hickory Valley Road, McCallie Avenue, Shallowford Road, Dayton Boulevard, and Frazier Avenue.


Tunnels

*Nathan L. Bachman, Bachman Tubes (also unofficially known as The East Ridge Tunnels), which carry Ringgold Road (US 41/76) into the neighboring city of East Ridge, Tennessee, East Ridge. *Missionary Ridge Tunnels (also unofficially known as McCallie or Brainerd Tunnels), which carry McCallie and Bailey Avenues (US 11/64) through
Missionary Ridge Missionary Ridge is a geographic feature in Chattanooga, Tennessee, site of the Battle of Missionary Ridge, a battle in the American Civil War, fought on November 25, 1863. Union forces under Maj. Gens. Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, a ...
where the route continues as Brainerd Road. *Stringer's Ridge Tunnel, which carries Cherokee Boulevard through Stringer's Ridge where the route continues as Dayton Boulevard. *Wilcox Tunnel, which carries Wilcox Boulevard through Missionary Ridge and connects to Shallowford Road.


Public transit

The city is served by a publicly run bus company, the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA). CARTA operates 17 routes, including a free electric shuttle service in the downtown area, and free Wi-Fi, wireless Internet on certain "smartbuses". The Chattanooga Department of Transportation has a mission "to make efficient transportation viable for all commuters- cyclists, pedestrians, transit users, and motorists while enhancing multi-use public spaces for all people." Chattanooga favors public transit, as the opening lines on the TDOT website read: "Sit back, relax, and let someone else deal with the traffic. Compared to driving, public transportation is less expensive, safer, and better for the environment. It reduces traffic congestion, saves energy, and benefits the communities it serves."


Bicycle-sharing system

The city has its own Bicycle-sharing system, bicycle transit system (Bike Chattanooga) with 300 bikes and 33 docking stations, all supplied by PBSC Urban Solutions, a Canadian company.


Railroad lines

Though Chattanooga's most famous connection to the railroad industry is "
Chattanooga Choo Choo "Chattanooga Choo Choo" is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and composed by Harry Warren. It was originally recorded as a big band/swing tune by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra and featured in the 1941 movie '' Sun Valley Serenade''. It was ...
", a 1941 song made famous by Glenn Miller & His Orchestra, the city serves as a major freight hub with Norfolk Southern (NS) and CSX running trains on their own (and each other's) lines. The Norfolk Southern Railway's main classification yard, DeButts Yard, is just east of downtown; Norfolk Southern's Shipp's Yard and CSX's Wauhatchie Yard are southwest of the city. Norfolk Southern maintains a large railroad repair shop in Chattanooga. The two railroad companies are among the largest individual landowners in the city (the United States Government, Federal Government is another). The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM), the largest historic operating railroad in the Southern United States, South, and the Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway also provide railroad service in Chattanooga. The headquarters of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) were located in Chattanooga next to the TVRM from 1982 to 2013, when the NMRA moved to Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, Soddy-Daisy, a nearby suburb. (The NMRA had moved from Indianapolis, Indiana to Chattanooga.) Despite the high level of freight rail activity, there is no passenger rail service in the city for commuters or long-distance travelers. But the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) has Chattanooga on a proposed future route that would run from Atlanta to Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville twice daily, with additional stops in Marietta, Georgia, Marietta, GA; Cartersville, Georgia, Cartersville, GA; Dalton, Georgia, Dalton, GA; Bridgeport, Alabama, Bridgeport, AL; Tullahoma, Tennessee, Tullahoma, TN; Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Murfreesboro, TN; and the Nashville International Airport. Using the Association of American Railroads, AAR reporting marks (NS for Norfolk Southern, CSXT for CSX Transportation, TVRM for the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, TNT for subsidiary Tyner Terminal Railroad, and CCKY for Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway), the rail lines passing through Chattanooga are as follows: *CSXT – Western and Atlantic Railroad, Western & Atlantic Subdivision (Chattanooga to Atlanta) **Chattanooga Subdivision (Chattanooga to Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville on former NC&StL trackage) *NS – Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific, aka the Queen and Crescent Route, (Chattanooga to Cincinnati, Ohio via Lexington, Kentucky) **Alabama Division (Chattanooga to Memphis via
Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in ...
) **Alabama Great Southern Railroad, Alabama Great Southern (Chattanooga to New Orleans, Louisiana via
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
) **Georgia Division (Chattanooga to Atlanta) **Central Division (Chattanooga to
Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
) **Chattanooga Traction Company ***North Chattanooga to Signal Mountain ***Dry Valley Line (Red Bank to Lupton City) *TVRM – East Chattanooga to Grand Junction () **East Chattanooga Belt Line Railroad (from near 23rd Street, across to Holtzclaw Avenue and East Chattanooga around North Chamberlain Ave., used by TVRM) **TNT - Tyner Terminal Railroad (Enterprise South Industrial Park railroad operations) *CCKY – formerly the Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia Railway, Tennessee Alabama & Georgia line (Chattanooga to Hedges, Georgia, abandoned since 2009) **formerly the Central of Georgia Railway, Central of Georgia line (Chattanooga to Lyerly, Georgia) The Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, often referred to as the Incline Railway by locals, serves as a tourist attraction. It is also occasionally used for commuting by Lookout Mountain residents, particularly during wintry weather when traveling up and down the mountain could be very dangerous. Until the 1960s the Louisville and Nashville railroad ran passenger trains through Union Station (Chattanooga), Union Station and the Southern Railway (U.S.), Southern Railway ran trains through Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel, Terminal Station. The last train, the L&N's ''Georgian (train), Georgian'', left Terminal Station in October 1971.


Bridges

Being bisected by 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 ...
, Chattanooga has seven bridges that allow people to traverse the river; five of the bridges being automobile bridges, one a rail bridge, and one a pedestrian bridge. These are the following, from west to east: * P.R. Olgiati Bridge – Named for a former mayor, P.R. Olgiati, this bridge, which was dedicated in 1959, carries U.S. Highway 27 from downtown towards Dayton, Tennessee and points northward. * Market Street Bridge – Officially called the John Ross Bridge, this bridge is a bascule bridge, which is a type of draw bridge. The bridge was completed in 1917 for the large sum of $1 million for the time. Having stood for decades since its last major overhaul, the Tennessee Department of Transportation declared it unsafe in late 2004. The bridge was closed in 2005 for a long-overdue renovation and was reopened on August 4, 2007. * Walnut Street Bridge (Tennessee), Walnut Street Bridge – Also known as "The Walking Bridge", it is one of the centerpieces of Chattanooga's urban renewal and is the second longest pedestrian bridge in the nation. Constructed in 1891, the bridge was declared unsafe and closed to traffic in 1978. It was on the verge of being demolished in the late 1980s when public outcry led to it being restored as a pedestrian-only span that opened in 1993. * Veterans Memorial Bridge – Completed in 1984, this bridge has helped commuters from Hixson, Lupton City, and other northern areas reach downtown quickly. *C.B. Robinson Bridge – Opened in 1981, this bridge carries DuPont Parkway (SR 319) from Amnicola Highway (SR 58) to Hixson Pike and Tennessee State Route 153, Route 153. *Tenbridge – This truss bridge with a vertical lift carries the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway over the river and is a popular railfan area. It was constructed in 1920. *Wilkes T. Thrasher Bridge – Completed in 1955, this route carries Highway 153 over the
Chickamauga Dam The Chickamauga Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. The dam is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s as part of a New Deal era initiativ ...
.


Air travel

The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA) offers non-stop service to various domestic destinations via regional and national airlines, including Allegiant Airlines, American Eagle Airlines, American Eagle, Delta Air Lines and its regional carrier Delta Connection, and United Express.


Notable people


In popular culture

Chattanooga has been referred to in pop culture numerous times over the decades, including in books, documentaries, films, TV shows, and more. In recent years, Chattanooga has appeared in more productions of blockbuster movies and TV shows, as well as independent films and documentaries.


Novels

Books that have Chattanooga as either a major or minor plot setting include ''Four and Twenty Blackbirds'' by Cherie Priest.


Documentaries

Documentaries have been filmed in Chattanooga over the decades, mostly related to the railroad industry or the Civil War battles that were fought in Chattanooga. These include the following: * ''Up Lookout Mountain on the Electric Incline'' (1913) * ''Battle Fields Around Chattanooga'' (1913) * ''The Blue and the Gray'' (1935) * ''Our Country'' (2003) * ''John Henry: Inside the Sculptors Studio'' (2008) * ''Let There Be Light: The Odyssey of Dark Star'' (2010) * ''Memphis & Charleston Railroad: Marriage of the Waters'' (2010) * ''Born and Bred'' (2011) * ''When Mourning Breaks'' (2013)


Films

Chattanooga and its environs have been featured in numerous films since the early 1970s, principally due to Chattanooga being the home of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM), which has allowed its equipment to be filmed in various films. A partial list of movies shot with TVRM equipment follows: * ''Fool's Parade'' (1971) (Southern 4501 as B&O 4501) * ''Eleanor and Franklin (miniseries), Eleanor & Franklin'' (1976), starring Jane Alexander and Edward Herrmann *''The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James'' (1986) * ''Fled'' (1996) (shot on the TVRM mainline) * ''Mama Flora's Family'' (1998) * ''October Sky'' (1999) (Southern 4501 appearing as N&W 4501 with O. Winston Link being the engineer) * ''The Adventures of Ociee Nash'' (2003) * ''Warm Springs (film), Warm Springs'' (2005) (shot in Summerville, Georgia, using TVRM equipment) * ''Heaven's Fall'' (2007) * ''Leatherheads'' (2008), starring George Clooney and Renée Zellweger * ''Water for Elephants (film), Water for Elephants'' (2011), starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson * The promotional video for Josh Turner's 2003 country single ''Long Black Train'' was filmed on TVRM property. In addition to the above TVRM films, the following films were filmed either in Chattanooga itself or in nearby locales: * ''The Man Trail'' (1915) * ''The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (film), The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia'' (1981) * ''The Big Blue'' (1988) * ''Dutch (film), Dutch'' (1991) * ''Christopher Columbus: The Discovery'' (1992) * ''All Over Again'' (2001) * ''Straight into Darkness'' (2004) * ''42 (film), 42'' (2013) (filmed at Engel Stadium) * ''Identity Thief'' (2013) (scene set in St. Louis was filmed on the Market Street Bridge) The 1941 Glenn Miller song that catapulted Chattanooga to international fame, "
Chattanooga Choo Choo "Chattanooga Choo Choo" is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and composed by Harry Warren. It was originally recorded as a big band/swing tune by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra and featured in the 1941 movie '' Sun Valley Serenade''. It was ...
", has been performed in numerous movies, including the 1941 film ''Sun Valley Serenade'', featuring the Miller Orchestra and Milton Berle, ''The Glenn Miller Story'' starring James Stewart in the 1953 title role, and the 1984 eponymous film ''Chattanooga Choo Choo (film), Chattanooga Choo Choo''.


Sporting and entertainment events

A number of pro wrestling events, as well as other events, such as circuses, concerts, ice shows, monster truck rallies, and rodeos, have been held in Chattanooga since the late 1980s, all at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, UTC's McKenzie Arena, also known as ''The Roundhouse'' because of its round shape and the impact of the railroad industry on Chattanooga. The events include the following: * Clash of the Champions IV: Season's Beatings (1988) *''Saturday's Night Main Event'' (January 27, 1990, episode) *Halloween Havoc (1991) *In Your House 13: Final Four (February 16, 1997) *2005 and 2011 Men's Southern Conference basketball tournaments *2005 Women's Southern Conference basketball championship game *Kenny Rogers concert (October 8, 1982; first-ever event held in McKenzie Arena) *Toby Keith concert (February 8, 2007) *Elton John concert (2011, 2013, 2016)


TV shows

''Police POV'', ''Cops (TV series), COPS'', and the MTV show ''Cuff'd'' have shown members of the Chattanooga Police Department apprehending suspects. In addition to police reality shows, Chattanooga and nearby areas have been either been featured or mentioned in several TV shows, including the following: * ''America's Walking'' (''This Woman's Not Stopping'' episode, originally broadcast May 20, 2002) * ''R&B Divas: Atlanta'' (''Til Divas Do Us Part'' episode, originally broadcast June 19, 2013) * ''American Idol'' (''Top 3 Results Show'' episode, originally broadcast May 19, 2011) * ''Antiques Roadshow (U.S.), Antiques Roadshow'' (''Chattanooga'' episodes (Hours 1–3), originally broadcast March 30 and April 6 and 13, 2009) * ''Bridezillas'' (''Shederyl & Poni'' episode) * ''Fitness Truth'' (''CF Open Chattanooga'' episode, originally broadcast August 14, 2011) * ''$40 a Day'' (''Chattanooga'' episode, originally broadcast October 29, 2004) * ''Evening Magazine'' * ''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'' (''Sharrock Family'' episode, originally broadcast May 15, 2011) * ''Good Eats'' (''Hook, Line, and Dinner'' episode, originally broadcast September 8, 1999) * ''Mystery Manhunt'' (2012-) * ''Off Limits (TV series), Off Limits'' (''Tennessee'' episode, originally broadcast June 20, 2011) * ''Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy'' (''Larry Gets the Horns'' episode, originally broadcast February 22, 2011) * ''16 and Pregnant'' (''Maci'' episode, originally broadcast June 11, 2009) * ''Teen Mom'' (Maci Bookout character) * ''Tennessee Crossroads'' (''Show 752'' episode, originally broadcast June 23, 1994) * ''The Andy Griffith Show'' (''Andy the Matchmaker'' and ''The Shoplifters'' episodes, originally broadcast on November 14, 1960, and March 2, 1964, respectively.) * ''The Middle (TV series), The Middle'' (''Vacation Days'' episode, originally broadcast March 5, 2014) * ''The Steps'' (a locally produced web series) * ''Trading Spouses, Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy'' (''Hammond/Howard'' episode, originally broadcast January 17 and 24, 2005) * ''Who Do You Think You Are? (U.S. TV series), Who Do You Think You Are?'' (''Lionel Richie'' episode, originally broadcast March 4, 2011) * ''Restaurant: Impossible'' (''Chattanooga Blues'' episode, shot at the Blue Orleans and was broadcast on February 27, 2020.)


Miscellaneous film and TV productions

Numerous independent short films have been produced in Chattanooga over the last several years, including the following: * ''Outcasts'' (2003) *''Assurances'' (2004) * ''A Bright Past'' (2008) * ''Last Breath'' (2009) * ''The Campaign for Chattanooga: Death Knell of the Confederacy'' (2012) * ''Ella'' (2012) Some TV movies have been filmed in Chattanooga or nearby areas, as well, including the 1986 TV movie ''A Winner Never Quits''. In addition, the 1999 music video ''Usher Live'', starring Chattanooga native Usher (entertainer), Usher, was filmed in Chattanooga.


Sister cities

Chattanooga's Sister city, sister cities are: * Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (1975) * Wuxi, Jiangsu, China (1982) * Givatayim, Gush Dan, Israel (1988) * Nizhny Tagil, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia (1996) * Gangneung, Gangwon Province (South Korea), Gangwon-do, South Korea (2003) * Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany (2011) * Tōno, Iwate, Tōno, Iwate Prefecture, Iwate, Japan (2017) In January 2007, all of the cities above (with the exceptions of Wolfsburg and Tōno) and the former sister cities of Swindon and Ascoli Piceno had a tree native to each locale planted at Coolidge Park's Peace Grove, which was established to replace a 100-year-old Ulmus rubra, Slippery elm tree which was damaged in a lightning storm in August 2006. Wolfsburg and Tōno were added in September 2011 and January 2018, respectively. The Peace Grove has nine trees: a linden tree, which represents Hamm; a Chinese elm, which represents Wuxi; a Cedrus, Mediterranean cedar, which represents Givatayim; a white birch, which represents Nizhny Tagil; a Ginkgo Biloba, ginkgo tree, which represents Gangneung; an English elm, which represents Swindon; a European hornbeam, which represents Ascoli Piceno; an oak tree, which represents Wolfsburg; and a Prunus serrulata, cherry tree, which represents Tōno.


Friendship cities

Chattanooga has friendly relations with: * Manfredonia, Apulia, Italy (2014)


See also

* Benwood Foundation * Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus Railroad * Lyndhurst Foundation * The Steele home, The Steele Home Orphanage * Underground Chattanooga * YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga


Notes


References


Further reading

* Armstrong, Zella. ''The History of Hamilton County and Chattanooga, Tennessee''. (2 vol 1931; reprint The Overmountain Press, 1992) * Crutchfield, Jennifer. ''Chattanooga Landmarks: Exploring the History of the Scenic City'' (The History Press, 2010) * Desmond, Jerry R. ''Chattanooga'' (Arcadia Publishing, 1996) * Downey, Fairfax. ''Storming of the Gateway: Chattanooga, 1863'' (D. McKay Company, 1960) * Ezzell, Tim. ''Chattanooga, 1865-1900: A City Set Down in Dixie'' (University of Tennessee Press; 2014) 212 pages; focuses on economic and political development * Govan, Gilbert E., and James W. Livingood. "Chattanooga Under Military Occupation, 1863-1865." ''Journal of Southern History'' (1951) 17#1 pp: 23–47
in JSTOR
* Hubbard, Rita L. ''African Americans of Chattanooga: A History of Unsung Heroes'' (The History Press, 2007) * Livingood, James Weston. ''Chattanooga: An Illustrated History'' (Windsor Publications, 1981) * Scott, Michelle R. ''Blues Empress in Black Chattanooga: Bessie Smith and the Emerging Urban South'' (University of Illinois Press, 2008)


External links

*
Visit Chattanooga

Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce
* * * {{Authority control Chattanooga, Tennessee, Cities in Tennessee History of voting rights in the United States Cities in the Chattanooga metropolitan area, Cities in Hamilton County, Tennessee County seats in Tennessee Populated places established in 1816 U.S. Route 11 Tennessee populated places on the Tennessee River Chattanooga metropolitan area county seats 1816 establishments in Tennessee Railway towns in Tennessee Cities in the United States