Chattanooga

Beautifully situated on the Tennessee River between the Cumberland
Plateau and the Great Smoky Mountains, Chattanooga has a history as
fascinating and diverse as it is long. Chattanooga began as a river landing,
and when residents of the small frontier settlement of Ross's Landing
met in 1838 to decide upon a new name for their community, they could
not have foreseen the changes that would affect the community they
named Chattanooga.
Within a few years of the 1849 arrival of the first train of the Western
and Atlantic Railroad, Chattanooga became an important communications
crossroads: the battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary
Ridge were fought in 1863 to determine control of this strategically crucial
location. If these conflicts played a part in deciding the fate of the nation,
they also decided the future of Chattanooga. Although the war ravaged
the countryside and destroyed city buildings, it also brought new life:
Union soldiers and entrepreneurs alike recognized the economic potential
of the area and not only rebuilt Chattanooga and Hamilton County, but
transformed the region into a progressive industrial center of the South.

As Chattanooga blossomed in the mid-nineteenth century so too did the art of photography. The photographers that captured scenes of Chattanooga life over the past century on film were unknowingly creating visual images that have become some of our most important and accessible historical records. To create this book, Jerry R. Desmond, Curator, has combined more than 200 images--many of them rare and previously unpublished-- from the collections of the Chattanooga Regional History Museum with concise, compelling captions to bring Chattanooga's history to life. At once educational and entertaining, this delightful visual history will earn a lasting place on area bookshelves and be treasured for years to come by young and old, resident and visitor alike.