Bradley County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the southeastern portion of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 108,620, making it the thirteenth most populous county in Tennessee. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. It is named for Colonel Edward Bradley of

Shelby County, Tennessee Shelby County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 929,744. It is the largest of the state's List of counties in Tennessee, 95 counties, both in terms of ...

, who was colonel of Hale's Regiment in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and the 15th Regiment of the Tennessee Volunteers in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Bradley County is included in the Cleveland, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

-Cleveland- Dalton, TN- GA- AL Combined Statistical Area.

History

Indigenous peoples occupied this territory, especially along the waterways, for thousands of years before European contact. The first Europeans to see this area were likely

Hernando De Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1497 – 21 May 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, ...

and his expedition on June 2, 1540, while traveling through the Southeast interior of the North American continent. They encountered peoples of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture. The historic Muscogee Creek and

Yuchi The Yuchi people are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma, though their original homeland was in the southeastern United States. In the 16th century, the Yuchi lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley. By the late 17th century, they had ...

occupied areas of what became Tennessee. The Yuchi town of Chestowee was located on the south bank of the lower

Hiwassee River The Hiwassee River is a river in the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It originates from a spring on the north slope of Rocky Mountain (Georgia), Rocky Mountain in Towns County, Georgia, Towns County in n ...

. They later moved from Tennessee into Georgia and South Carolina under pressure from the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

, who were rising to power in the region. Cherokee warriors from the Middle Towns destroyed Chestowee in 1714, encouraged by English

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

rs from South Carolina. Archeological surveys suggest that Chestowee was located at what is known as the Rymer archeological site, identified in later studies as within the European-American J.P. Rymer farm. The Cherokee became predominant in this area and referred to a large region in present-day Bradley County as '' Chatata,'' meaning "clear water". The Yuchi, while speaking a different language, allied with the Muscogee Creek when moving into their territory in Georgia and Alabama. In anticipation of forced removal of the Cherokee by treaty cession in this area north of the Hiwassee River, white settlers began to move here. In 1821, the Cherokee Agency, the official liaison between the U.S. Government and the Cherokee Nation, was moved to present-day

Charleston, Tennessee Charleston is a city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 664 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The land now occupied by Charleston and Bradley County was home ...

. Between 1832 and 1838, the Cherokee moved their capital to the Red Clay Council Grounds, on the southern border of Bradley County with Georgia; it served as the Cherokee capital and the last council grounds of the Cherokee Nation-East. This property is now a state park, Red Clay State Park. The

Cherokee Removal The Cherokee removal (May 25, 18381839), part of the Indian removal, refers to the forced displacement of an estimated 15,500 Cherokees and 1,500 African-American slaves from the U.S. states of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama to ...

began after some of their leaders signed the

Treaty of New Echota The Treaty of New Echota was a treaty signed on December 29, 1835, in New Echota, Georgia, by officials of the United States government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, the Treaty Party. The treaty established terms ...

, signed on December 29, 1835. The government had earlier tried to persuade them to move to Indian Territory; these leaders signed the treaty while trying to gain the best conditions for their people, as they believed it was inevitable. General

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army from 1841 to 1861, and was a veteran of the War of 1812, American Indian Wars, Mexica ...

was directed to remove the Cherokee from the Southeast, and set up the headquarters at Fort Cass in Charleston. Several internment camps were established in Bradley County in the valleys between Charleston and Cleveland, Tennessee, where the Cherokee were held in preparation for the journey westward. This became known as the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of about 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their black slaves within that were ethnically cleansed by the U ...

. Two of the largest internment camps were located at Rattlesnake Springs.

European-American development of Bradley County

Bradley County was established by the legislature on February 10, 1836. It was named to honor Colonel Edward Bradley who served in the

. The first election in Bradley County took place on April 2, 1836. On May 2, 1836, the location for the county seat of Cleveland was chosen."
Goodspeed's History of Bradley County, Tennessee
" published in 1887. Transcribed for web content and maintained by TNGenWeb - Bradley County. Retrieved: December 30, 2007. On January 20, 1838, Cleveland, which had a population of 400, was formally recognized by the state legislature as the seat of Bradley County.William Snell, "Cleveland," ''An Encyclopedia of East Tennessee'' (Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, 1981), pp. 108-111. Cleveland was incorporated on February 2, 1842. Like most East Tennessee counties, the voters of Bradley County were largely opposed to secession on the eve of the Civil War. In Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession referendum on June 8, 1861, the county's residents voted against secession - 1,382 to 507. No major battles were fought in Bradley County, but several major skirmishes between Union and Confederate troops took place there. In 1864, Confederate soldiers failed in an attempt to destroy a Union train near the

Tasso TASSO (Two Arm Spectrometer SOlenoid) was a particle detector at the PETRA particle accelerator at the German national laboratory DESY. The TASSO collaboration is best known for having discovered the gluon, the mediator of the strong interaction an ...

community, an effort that resulted in destroying a Confederate train instead. The bridge over the

was burned on November 8, 1861, by members of the East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy led by Alfred Cate. On November 4, 1862, a train accident south of Cleveland near the Black Fox community killed 17 members of the 33rd Regiment Alabama Infantry, who were being transported to Chattanooga. Union soldiers under the command of

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a General officer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), earning recognit ...

camped at Cleveland, Tasso, and Blue Springs on multiple occasions during the latter half of the war. The city of Cleveland was occupied by the Confederate Army from 1861 to 1863.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.8%) is water. The county is situated on a series of paralleling ridges running north-northeasterly which are part of the Ridge and Valley

Appalachians The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

. The highest of these, Candies Creek Ridge, runs through the center of Cleveland. Located in between these ridges are creeks, and there are several springs in the county, which made the area favorable to early settlers. The highest point in the county is located on the Hamilton County line along White Oak Mountain. The county is bordered on the north by the

. The majority of the county is located in the

Tennessee Valley The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to north Alabama and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North C ...

drainage basin, except for approximately the southeastern third, which is located in the Mobile Bay Watershed and contains the Conasauga River. This river is the only river in Tennessee that is not part of the

Mississippi River Watershed The Mississippi River is the primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota ...

Adjacent counties

* Meigs County (northwest) * McMinn County (north) * Polk County (east) * Murray County, Georgia (southeast) *

Whitfield County, Georgia Whitfield County is a County (United States), county in the Northwest Georgia, Northwest region of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census shows a population of 102,864. The county seat ...

(south) * Hamilton County (west)

State protected areas

*Chickamauga Wildlife Management Area (part) *Charlotte Anne Finnell Neal Wildlife Management Area * Red Clay State Park

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 108,620 people, 39,992 households, and 26,516 families residing in the county.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 98,963 people, 37,947 households, and 26,867 families residing in the county. The population density was 298.98 persons per square mile. There were 41,395 housing units at an average density of 125.06 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 92.10% White, 4.27% Black or African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.86% Asian, 0.06% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 1.45% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos (of any race) were 4.71% of the population. The largest ancestral groups were Irish 14.27%,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

12.62%, English 8.91%,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

2.39%, and Dutch 2.18%. An estimated 3.90% of the population was foreign-born, and an estimated 7.54% were

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

s. Of all of the households, 29.07% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 53.58% were married couples living together, 4.78% had a male householder with no wife present, 12.44% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were non-family households, with 23.8% of householders living alone. 33.27% of all households had individuals under the age of 18 living in them, and 26.36% had individuals aged 65 and older living in them. The average household size was 2.54 persons, and the average family size was 2.98 persons. The population was spread out, with 22.97% under the age of 18, 62.88% ages 18 to 64, and 14.15% over the age of 65. The median age was 37.9 years. 51.32% of the population was female and 48.68% was male. The median household income was $40,032, and the average per capita income was approximately $21,444. Males had a median income of $37,735 versus $28,585 for females. Approximately 11.6% of families and 16.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.2% of those under the age of 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

With thirteen

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

manufacturers, Cleveland has the fifth largest industrial economy in Tennessee. Cleveland is home to a variety of industries, including household

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

equipment,

foodstuff Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

storage batteries A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of Accumulator (energy), energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a ...

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

s, industrial

cleaning product Cleaning agents or hard-surface cleaners are substances (usually liquids, powders, sprays, or granules) used to remove dirt, including dust, stains, foul odors, and clutter on surfaces. Purposes of cleaning agents include health, beauty, removing ...

photographic processing Photographic processing or photographic development is the chemical means by which photographic film or paper is treated after photographic exposure to produce a negative or positive image. Photographic processing transforms the latent image i ...

, industrial and domestic

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

s, and automotive parts. Cleveland Chamber of Commerce Major employers include

Whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

, Johnston

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

Mars, Incorporated Mars, Incorporated (doing business as Mars Inc.) is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services founded on June 23, 1911, headquartered in McLean, Virgini ...

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

Duracell Duracell Inc. is an American manufacturer of alkaline batteries, specialty cells, and rechargeables; it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since 2016. The company has its origins in the 1920s, through the work of Samuel Ruben a ...

, Hardwick Clothes, and Cleveland Chair Company. Wacker Polysilicon, Olin Corporation,

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

, and Arch Chemicals have factories and distribution centers in Charleston.

Resolute Forest Products Resolute Forest Products (French: ''Produits forestiers Résolu''), formerly known as AbitibiBowater Inc., is a Canada-based Pulp and paper industry in Canada, pulp and paper company. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company was formed in 2 ...

, formerly Bowater, has a plant across the river from Charleston in Calhoun. Agriculture in Bradley County has an annual market value of over $105 million. Bradley County ranks second in the state for the production of

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

and broilers, most of which is raised in the southern half of the county. Bradley County is also home to farms which raise beef cattle, dairy, and crops, such as corn, soybeans, and fruits and vegetables.

Government

Bradley County has a 14-member

county commission A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States. A county usually has three to fiv ...

form of government, with two commissioners from each of seven districts.County Commission - County Commissioners
bradleycountytn.gov The commission is headed by a chairman and vice chairman, who are chosen by fellow commissioners. The current chairman is Tom Crye from District 2 and the current vice chairman is Bill Winters from District 7. Each district is also assigned a

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

, also elected. The county executive (or "county mayor") separately elected, is Republican D. Gary Davis. Other elected officials include

county clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keepin ...

, circuit and criminal court clerk, register of deeds, assessor of property,

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

, and road superintendent. Elections take place every even year, with primaries in the first week of May and general elections in the first week of August, along with the state primary. Bradley County is located in Tennessee's 3rd congressional district, represented by Republican

Chuck Fleischmann Charles Joseph Fleischmann ( ; born October 11, 1962) is an American attorney and politician who has been the U.S. representative for since 2011. The district is based in Chattanooga and includes a large part of East Tennessee, including Oak ...

. For the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

, Bradley County is part of both District 22, represented by Republican Dan Howell, and District 24, represented by Republican Kevin Raper. Bradley County is represented in the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...

, by Republican J. Adam Lowe Cleveland and Bradley County have always been majority-Republican, as has most of

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 coun ...

, even when Tennessee was part of the

Solid South The Solid South was the electoral voting bloc for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the Southern United States between the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the aftermath of the Co ...

. Since the Republican Party's founding, only two Democratic Presidential Candidates have won Bradley County;

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

and

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

. In both the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Presidential elections, the Republican candidate received the highest percentage of the popular vote in Bradley County out of all of Tennessee's counties.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Air

Hardwick Field, also known as Cleveland Municipal Airport, was the county's principal airport from 1955 to 2013. Cleveland Regional Jetport, located approximately two miles east of Hardwick Field opened on January 25, 2013, replacing Hardwick Field. It consists of a runway.

Rail

The county is served by the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

, which forks in Cleveland and provides logistics for industries.

Highways

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 S ...

traverses the county from the southwest to the north, passing through the western edge of Cleveland. There are four exits on I-75 in Bradley County: three in Cleveland and one in Charleston. U.S. Route 11 and U.S. Route 64 intersect in downtown Cleveland. U.S. 11 connects to Chattanooga to the southwest and Athens to the north. U.S. 64 connects to Murphy, North Carolina to the east. S.R. 60 connects Cleveland to

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

to the northwest and

Dalton, Georgia Dalton is a city and the county seat of Whitfield County, Georgia, Whitfield County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is also the principal city of the Dalton metropolitan area, Dalton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encomp ...

to the south.

APD-40 APD-40 or APD 40 is a road composed of the U.S. Route 64 Bypass (US 64 Byp.) and a section of Tennessee State Route 60, State Route 60 (SR 60) which forms a partial beltway around the business district of Cleveland, Tennessee. The ro ...

, made up of the U.S. 64 Bypass and a section of S.R. 60 forms a beltway and bypass route around the business district of Cleveland. The U.S. 11 Bypass bypasses downtown Cleveland to the west.

= Principal highways

Cleveland to Charleston Concrete Highway Bradley County Tennessee

U.S. Route 11 * Bypass plate

U.S. Route 11 Bypass * US 64

U.S. Route 64 * Bypass plate

U.S. Route 64 Bypass * US 74

U.S. Route 74 * S.R. 60 * S.R. 40 * Tennessee 2

S.R. 2 *

S.R. 311 * Paul Huff Parkway

= Secondary highways

= *

S.R. 74 *

S.R. 306 * Secondary Tennessee 308

S.R. 308 * Secondary Tennessee 312

S.R. 312 * Secondary Tennessee 313

S.R. 313 * Secondary Tennessee 317

S.R. 317

Utilities

Cleveland Utilities is a city-owned corporation which provides electricity, water, and sewer service to the city of Cleveland and surrounding areas. The Calhoun-Charleston Utilities District provides water to Charleston. Volunteer Electric Cooperative (VEC) provides electricity to Charleston and the rest of Bradley County, except for a small portion in the southwestern part of the county along U.S. 11/64, including McDonald, which receives its electricity from Chattanooga-based EPB. The rest of the county is provided water by the Hiwassee Utilities Commission, Ocoee Utility District, Eastside Utility District, and Savannah Valley Utility District. Cleveland Utilities, VEC, and EPB all purchase their power from 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 Carolin ...

(TVA), which also provides power directly to

heavy industries Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

Olin, United Hydrogen, and Wacker. Chattanooga Gas, a subsidiary of

Southern Company Southern Company is an American gas and electric utility holding company based in the Southern United States. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with executive offices located in Birmingham, Alabama. As of 2021 it is the second largest ut ...

, provides natural gas to Cleveland and surrounding areas.

Healthcare

Prior to 2008, the county's two main hospitals were Bradley Memorial Hospital and Cleveland Community Hospital. They ran independently until 2008 when they were both purchased by SkyRidge Medical Center. In 2015, the two hospitals were purchased by Tennova Healthcare. Bradley Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center is a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...

that serves the county. Bradley County Emergency Medical Services is an

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

(EMS) agency of the county government that was established in 1972 and consists of six stations, eight ambulances, and two ancillary vehicles, along with more than 60 full-time employees and more than 25 part-time employees.

Education

Cleveland State Community College and

Lee University Lee University is a Private university, private Church of God (Cleveland), Christian university in Cleveland, Tennessee. It was founded in 1918 as the Church of God Bible Training School with twelve students and one teacher, Nora I. Chambers. Th ...

are located in Bradley County. Public schools in the county are managed by the Bradley County Schools

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

or the Cleveland City Schools school district. The county district has four public high schools: Bradley Central High School,

Walker Valley High School Walker Valley High School (WVHS) is a public high school in the Bradley County Schools system located in the northern part of Bradley County, Tennessee near Charleston. The school serves about 1,600 students in grades 9–12. The school's mas ...

, GOAL Academy, and REACH Adult High school. Cleveland High School is operated by the city school district. There is one State-accredited private Christian college preparatory school: Tennessee Christian Preparatory School.

Private schools

* Tennessee Christian Preparatory School *Cleveland Christian School *Bowman Hills Adventist School *Shenandoah Baptist Academy *United Christian Academy *Vanguard Christian Academy * Bachman Academy

Higher education

* Cleveland State Community College * Pentecostal Theological Seminary

Media

Newspapers

The '' Cleveland Daily Banner'' is the county's primary newspaper. The paper was first published in 1854, making it one of the oldest in the state. Additionally, the ''

Chattanooga Times Free Press The ''Chattanooga Times Free Press'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is distributed in the metropolitan Chattanooga region of southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. It is one of Tennessee's majo ...

'', a paper based in Chattanooga, also serves as a primary source of news for Bradley County residents.

Radio

Several

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

s located within Chattanooga and neighboring cities serve Bradley County, along with others licensed to Cleveland, which are listed below:

Television

Bradley County is served by several TV stations licensed both in the county and in neighboring counties. Stations licensed in Cleveland include:

Communities

Cities

(county seat) * Charleston

Census-designated places

* East Cleveland * Hopewell * McDonald * South Cleveland * Wildwood Lake

Unincorporated communities

* Georgetown * Misty Ridge * Prospect *

* Waterville

References

* *