Collegedale is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 11,109 at the 2020 census. Collegedale is a suburb of Chattanooga and is part of the Chattanooga, TN– GA

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 as a city or tow ...

. Collegedale is home to

Southern Adventist University Southern Adventist University is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Collegedale, Tennessee. It is owned and operated by the Southern Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. It was founded in 1892 in Graysville, Tennessee, as G ...

. The median household income is one of the highest in Hamilton County. It has been ranked as one of the best and safest places to live in Tennessee. The unincorporated community of Ooltewah is an enclave in Collegedale.

History

Collegedale was founded as the site of

(then Southern Junior College) in 1916. It was incorporated under a city manager government in 1968. J.M. Ackerman was the first city manager, and Fred Fuller served as the city's first mayor.

Geography

Collegedale is located in southeastern Hamilton County at (35.051578, -85.047004), in the valley of Wolftever Creek. Just west of the city center, the creek cuts through White Oak Mountain, forming Collegedale Gap. Tennessee State Route 317 passes through the city center and Collegedale Gap, leading southeast to State Route 60 and northwest to

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

in the northeastern outskirts of Chattanooga. Downtown Chattanooga is west of Collegedale.

Tennessee State Route 321 State Route 321 (SR 321) is a north–south state highway located entirely in Hamilton County in southeastern Tennessee. It traverses mainly the eastern outskirts of Chattanooga, and its eastern suburbs. Route description From the Georgia stat ...

runs through the western part of Collegedale, leading north to U.S. routes 11 and 64 just north of Ooltewah and south to the

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

state line. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total area of , all of it recorded as land.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 11,109 people, 4,167 households, and 2,485 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the

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

of 2000, there were 6,514 people, 2,049 households, and 1,528 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 781.6 people per square mile (301.9/km²). There were 2,199 housing units at an average density of 263.9 per square mile (101.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.55%

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

, 4.37%

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

, 0.01% Native American, 0.01% Asian, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 2.87% from

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

, and 2.16% from two or more races.

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

or Latino of any race were 7.74% of the population. There were 2,049

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is i ...

s, out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.0% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 2.96. In the city the population was spread out, with 19.8% under the age of 18, 25.2% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 88.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $42,270, and the median income for a family was $52,337. Males had a median income of $37,819 versus $28,345 for females. The

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

for the city was $18,604. About 5.3% of families and 7.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.5% of those under the age of 18 and 4.0% of those 65 and older. Collegedale has a large

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

community and in 2005 was described as an "enclave" for the religion by Charles Reagan Wilson and Mark Silk.

Economy

McKee Foods is headquartered in Collegedale. Originally launched in Chattanooga in 1934, the company moved to a facility on the campus of Southern Adventist University in 1956. McKee Foods is the producer of

Little Debbie McKee Foods Corporation is a privately held and family-owned American snack food and granola manufacturer headquartered in Collegedale, Tennessee. The corporation is the maker of Drake's Cakes, Fieldstone Bakery snacks and cereal, Little Debbie ...

and Sunbelt snack foods.

Arts and culture

In August 2011, the city took over control of the Collegedale Public Library, which was previously operated under the Hamilton County library system. Library membership is available on a paid subscription basis, free to residents of Collegedale.

Parks and recreation

Six parks are managed by the Parks & Recreation Department of Collegedale: *East Hamilton County Park has a high school baseball field and three youth fields. *Wolftever Creek Greenway is a greenway which spans throughout the city and continues to be expanded upon by the city. *Collegedale Dog Park provides dog-owners with a

dog park A dog park is a park for dogs to exercise and play off-leash in a controlled environment under the supervision of their owners. Description Dog parks have varying features, although they typically offer a 4' to 6' fence, separate double-gated ...

for unleashed dog socialization. *Imagination Station & Pavilion is a playground and rental space located behind City Hall with a train theme. *The Nature Nook is an

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

built by the East Hamilton County Kiwanis Club for the city. *Veterans Memorial Park is located along the Wolftever Creek Greenway and features plaques, sculptures and flags as a memorial to United States war veterans. The town has youth and adult

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

leagues. It also has four pickleball courts adjacent to the Imagination Station and City Hall.

Government

Collegedale was incorporated in 1968. It operates under a City Manager-Commission form of government. Five commissioners are elected by popular vote and they are responsible for choosing a city manager, who then proceeds to implement the commissions policies. On 5 August 2013, Collegedale became the first city in Tennessee to extend health benefits to same-sex couples.

Education

, a private Christian university, is located in Collegedale. It has an affiliated K-12 education system, Collegedale Academy, which includes Collegedale Academy Middle School, and Collegedale Academy Elementary Wolftever Creek Elementary School and Ooltewah Middle School are the two public schools inside of city limits. Both schools belong to the

Hamilton County Schools Hamilton County Schools (or Hamilton County Department of Education) is the school district that serves Hamilton County, Tennessee, USA. After a 1995 referendum, the then-separate Chattanooga City Schools district was merged into the county distri ...

system.

Infrastructure

Transportation

The city is located just off the

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

corridor. Collegedale Municipal Airport is owned by the city of Collegedale and has about 120 aircraft stationed there. In 2003, the airport was awarded the Tennessee Aeronautics Commission's "Airport of the Year" title.

Utilities

Collegedale has a recycling program which requires the public to bring their recyclables to the city public works department. The city uses recycling to reduce the costs of landfill waste disposal and offsets the cost of recycling by selling the recyclable materials. Comcast provides cable services and

CenturyLink Lumen Technologies, Inc. (formerly CenturyLink) is an American telecommunications company headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, that offers communications, network services, security, cloud solutions, voice, and managed services. The company is ...

supplies landline phone services. Electricity is supplied by EPB and the Chattanooga Gas Company supplies gas needs. The city and/or Hamilton County handles resident sewer needs and Eastside Utility District handles water services.

Health & safety

The city utilizes Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services for

emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...

and contracts fire & rescue services to the Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department located in Collegedale. The local volunteer fire department, at Station 1, has 100 members and support staff and an ISO Class 2 rating. The Collegedale Police Department provides police services for the city.

References

External links

City of Collegedale official website
{{Authority control Populated places established in 1916 Cities in Hamilton County, Tennessee 1916 establishments in Tennessee