Chattanooga was a strategic Confederate communications point during the Civil
War and was a major objective of
the Union armies. Fighting there
culminated in the decisive battles of Chickamauga Creek and Chattanooga
(September
and November 1863, respectively), after which Union forces occupied
the city and used it as a supply centre for the
Atlanta campaign of General William
Tecumseh Sherman.
During the civil war nearly all the business
houses and private residences were destroyed, and
the inhabitants scattered.
The close of the war
left Chattanooga nothing more than a military post,
without business, without buildings, and without
inhabitants.
What the city is at present it has
become since 1865. During the last eight years the
population has increased to 10,000,
and probably
12,000. Invited by the genial climate of this region,
and influenced by the importance of this point as
a future
trade center, the increase of the population,
and the development of the business of the city
has been rapid.
At the same time, the growth of
the city has not been spasmodic, but substantial.
During the year 1873, there was a huge
investment
in the erection of manufacturing establishments.
There was also huge investments in the construction
of dwellings.
The inducements offered by Chattanooga
and the surrounding country for every kind of enterprise,
are as real as they are
unusual and flattering.
The railroad facilities
of this city will be spoken of under the head of
" Chattanooga as a distributing point."
There are two
large union passenger depots, and
three freight depots. The accommodations for the
vast amount of freight handled at this
point are
not sufficient, and additional freight houses are
soon to be erected.
Chattanooga boasts of one
of the largest and finest hotels in the south, with all the modern conveniences
and improvements.
There are six hotels in the city
which afford good accommodations to the traveling
public.
All the leading religious denominations
have one or more churches. Sunday-schools receive
much attention and are in a very prosperous condition.
The public school system of Chattanooga
is well perfected, and in a prosperous condition.
It is in the hands of an efficient
board of Education.
Ample facilities are afforded for all who desire
to avail themselves of its advantages.
The
Chattanooga Female Institute affords ample facilities
for female education in all the higher branches
of learning.
An academy for males is all that is
needed to make the educational facilities of Chattanooga
complete in all departments.
It is expected that
this want will soon be supplied.
The
press is represented in Chattanooga by two daily,
two weekly, and two monthly publications.
There
are now in Chattanooga two national banks and
one private bank, with an aggregate capital
of about $500,000,
which
is used in the commercial transactions of the
city, and in moving the large quantity of stock
and grain shipped south
from
this point. In the shipment of produce, liberal
advances are made upon railroad receipts, and
thus is secured the
advantage
of distant markets. But the business of the
city demands a large addition to the banking
capital, as is indicated
by
the high rates of discounts.
The
city is supplied with gas made from Tennessee
coal.
The
water-works water is taken from the Tennessee
River, and elevated to reservoirs on Cameron
hill. Hydrants, supplied
from
the water-works, are made use of for fire protection.
Water from the fire-plugs
can be thrown to the height of sixty
feet
on the main street.
A
street railroad has been chartered, and the
stock subscribed. It is expected to be in operation
very soon.
The following are some pf the principal manufacturing
establishments in Chattanooga:
Chattanooga
Foundry and Machine Works
Vulcan
Works
Alabama
and Chattanooga Railroad Machine
Shops
Wason
Car and Foundry Company
Roane
Iron Company
Chattanooga
Iron Company
Chattanooga
Steam Wagon and Implement Works
Chattanooga
Steam Carriage and Wagon Work
Lookout
Steam Mills
Chattanooga
Steam Mills
Chattanooga
Fire-Clay Work
Chattanooga
Soap Factory
Southern
Pump and Pipe Company
Chattanooga
Steam Bakery
Chattanooga
Steam Leather Manufactor
Novelty
Machine Works
Chattanooga
Fertilizer Works
Chattanooga
Steam Furniture Factory
Chattanooga
Brewery
Mountain
City Cotton and Woolen Factory
In
the not so far distant future, when the varied
products of the soil, the mine, and innumerable
furnaces and manufacturing establishments, and
the commerce which will course through the natural
channel of trade, will make Chattanooga the
metropolis
of the central South.
The meaning of the name Chattanooga
has been a mooted question for many
years. Most historians and others
say it
means “Eagle's nest.” In the Chattanooga Daily Times
of July
1, 1903, appeared an article written by Miss Zella
Armstrong on the origin
and meaning of the word Chattanooga.
“In
a correspondence with Hon. Joshua Ross,
concerning his distinguished uncle, Chief
John, who left his
impress
deep upon this historic country, I inquired
what could be learned among the living Cherokees
upon
this
subject. Promptly came the answer, and it
forever clears the romance and the mystery
from our ‘eagle's
nest.’
'My
own impression is that Chattanooga is derived
from a Creek Indian word, as “Creek Path”
is not many
miles
distant. I find in the living Creek language
“Chat-to-to-noo-gee,” the literal meaning
of which is “rock
coming
to a point; a cliff or bluff, or overhanging
rock,” as is found at the point of Lookout
Mountain.'
Source:
First and Second Reports of the Bureau of
Agriculture for The State Of Tennessee
