Ah, spring is in the air. Trees are once again that leafy green, and the flowers are in bloom. Your history hound is genuinely captivated by the natural beauty of the Chattanooga area and Southeast Tennessee.
A few years back, yours truly was privileged to attend a luncheon at the Walden Club -- for you that don’t know, it’s that swanky, private dining locale perched atop the tallest building in downtown Chattanooga. To reach the Walden Club, one has only to enter the elevator at Republic Center on Chestnut Street and press the button marked “WC.” Now, Old Hamilton was a bit confused, thinking this would carry him aloft to the highest water closet, or restroom, in town. However, a kindly fellow traveler set your scribe straight as to his destination.
Oops! I digress. Back to the business at hand. Old Hamilton enjoyed his sumptuous meal and visited with one of our local captains of industry who stated with pride that at least a dozen manufacturing concerns were operating at full capacity at that very moment but not a single smudge of air pollution darkened the sky. Now, dear readers, that is progress.
More recently, as Old Hamilton stays up to date on the efforts to keep our city clean and to reclaim areas devastated by pollution in earlier decades, he cannot help but feel a bit optimistic. Still, imagine the tar and goo that remain to be scraped from the bottom of Chattanooga Creek. Did you ever read the signs posted along a number of our local waterways? They warn us matter of factly that the water is not fit for swimming and that fish which are caught in these streams are unsafe for human consumption.
Old Hamilton applauds the efforts undertaken to date, and it warms his heart to see the various civic and youth organizations and groups of concerned citizens who give up a Saturday to work along the banks of our picturesque Tennessee River cleaning up the messes left by others. Who would have ever thought it a good idea to roll an old tire into the drink? How much extra effort would have been required to find a trash can for that bag of fast food refuse or that empty 12-pack of liquid refreshment that inevitably seems to find its way out the car window and strewn along an otherwise scenic roadside.
Two former advertising campaigns come to mind when Old Hamilton gets his anti-pollution dander up. That catchy Tennessee Trash jingle from a few years back ought to be resurrected and played regularly on the airwaves. Then, of course, Chief Iron Eyes Cody with the single tear running down his cheek drives the point home clearly.
Let’s be accountable for our actions, supporting the ongoing public and private efforts to rid our land of industrial waste and refuse. While we’re at it, let’s hold others accountable too. If you, dear reader, see someone discarding their trash in a thoughtless manner, remind them that another person will have to come along behind them and do what they should have done in the first place.
Maybe Old Hamilton should have saved this lengthy rant for the Sunday newspaper. But then, you can bet it would have been heavily edited due to space constraints!
Dear Hamilton Bush,
I heard not long ago that a time capsule had been discovered during the renovation project at the Chattanooga City Hall on 11th Street. That capsule must have been placed within the foundation of the building quite a long time ago. Can you tell me about the contents? Who was the mayor of Chattanooga at the time? What do you know about the original building?
Sincerely,
Curious About The Capsule
Dear Capsule,
You heard correctly! In the midst of a $12 million renovation project at City Hall, a small metal box was discovered in January of this year and opened with great ceremony and excitement the following month. Actually, workers had anticipated such a discovery based on newspaper accounts of the original construction project which was completed about 1908. They drilled and then drilled some more, stopping only when they feared that the structural integrity of the building might be compromised.
Luckily, the black box was located, wedged into a tight space inside the City Hall cornerstone. When it was freed from nearly a century in silent darkness, the box was hoisted high by Mayor Ron Littlefield and City Council Chairman Leamon Pierce. A few slices with a hacksaw, and the welded top was peeled back to reveal the contents of the vessel.
The first object to see the light of day was an unpaid parking ticket issued by a dutiful turn-of-the-century downtown meter maid. Just kidding! Old Hamilton, collector of multiple summonses that he is, couldn’t resist that one. In truth, the objects which were retrieved included a Chattanooga City Directory from 1908, a roster of City Council members of the day, a Chamber of Commerce directory, and a list of the members of the Chattanooga Manufacturers Association at the time. Other interesting artifacts included local newspapers, one with a headline relating to the health of Grover Cleveland, former President of the United States, and individual business cards signed by their owners.
Initial plans are to preserve the items removed from the time capsule and possibly place them on display in the renovated City Hall.
As for the building itself, the noted local architect R.H. Hunt, whose name has appeared in this column previously as the designer of the Joel W. Solomon Federal Building, the Hamilton County Courthouse, and numerous other buildings in the city, also is credited with designing the City Hall in the classic revival style. The land on which the building sits was purchased by the city in 1905 from the Stone Fort Land Company, owned by prominent citizen Z. Cartter Patten, for $30,000. Three years later, the structure was completed at a cost of $156,750. Mayor W.R. Crabtree presided over the laying of the cornerstone and the placement of the time capsule. He called the new City Hall a “fitting monument to the character of the Chattanooga of today.”
During the renovation, a number of previously obscured features of the original design, including ornate molding, heavy oak doors, large windows, and coffered ceilings have been rediscovered. Renovations during the 1950s and 60s had hidden or removed some of the original splendor of the decor, but every effort is being made to bring those elements which remain back into view.
Dear Hamilton Bush,
Not long ago, we entertained relatives from out of town. They were intrigued by our local history, and one of the stops we made during our tour was at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. While there, were told about a tunnel that was constructed long ago for rail traffic through Missionary Ridge. We also rode the excursion train and saw it for ourselves. It must have an interesting story. Can you enlighten me?
Regards,
Tell About The Tunnel
Dear Tell,
The tunnel of which you speak is indeed a landmark, and it is more than 150 years old. A link to our city’s railroad past, it is known primarily as the Missionary Ridge Railroad Tunnel, although others will recognize it as the Chattanooga, Harrison, Georgetown, and Charleston Railroad Tunnel, and still others as the Chattanooga and Cleveland Railroad Tunnel.
However one wishes to describe it, the tunnel represents quite a feat of engineering for its day. Some controversy exists as to actually when it was completed, but the best estimate of the time frame is that construction began in 1854 and was finished in 1856. Both slaves and wage earning laborers took on the hazardous duty, which involved blasting through numerous sections of solid rock with the adventurous technique of finding a suitable crack or crevice, filling it up with black powder, lighting a fuse, and running for one’s life. This activity was naturally followed by vigorous digging and hauling of dirt and rock.
The tunnel itself is 980 feet long and approximately 12.5 feet by 19 feet at its narrowest point. If one filled a cylinder of comparable size, it would hold a volume of 210,000 feet. Its horseshoe shaped entrances are 17 feet high, more than 15 feet wide in the middle, and curved to a width of 14 feet at ground level. Aside from areas of solid rock in the tunnel’s interior, other sections are bolstered by masonry or limestone which was transported from local quarries.
Now, as many of our readers already know, the convergence of multiple rail lines was one reason for Chattanooga’s strategic importance during the Civil War. It just so happens that the tunnel itself played a prominent part in the Battle of Missionary Ridge, which was fought between Billy Yank and Johnny Reb on November 25, 1863. Seems the Yankees, under General William T. Sherman, were a bit confused and captured Billy Goat Hill rather than the northerly end of Missionary Ridge. Meanwhile, Confederates under General Patrick Cleburne occupied Tunnel Hill, a knob rising about 250 feet right at the end of the ridge and so named for its proximity to the tunnel.
Cleburne’s troops were the only ones to hold their ground that November day in the face of repeated charges by the Union soldiers along the length of Missionary Ridge. It was not until later that evening that the general received orders to withdraw and serve as the rear guard for the retreating Rebel army. During the fighting on November 25, the Confederates placed artillery near the tunnel entrance. Some gray clad infantry, reportedly from Texas, took cover there and charged out of the darkness to surprise some Union troops from Iowa and send them skedaddling.
Through the years, the ownership of the rail line changed hands numerous times. In 1960, a plan was briefly entertained to designate the old tunnel as a bomb shelter. It is a pretty safe bet that it would have served the purpose well. The Southern Railway discontinued use of the tunnel in 1954 after the new railyard became operational and donated the line to the Railroad Museum in 1971. Because of its links to military and transportation history, the Missionary Ridge Railroad Tunnel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 24, 1978.