Hamilton County Communities

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Antioch

 is a community along Greenwood Road north of Wilcox Boulevard to the southern boundary of Greenwood Cemetery, as well as the western halves of Plumwood Road and Hillwood Drive, whose center historically was Antioch Missionary Baptist Church (1892).

Apison  

A community  in Hamilton County, It is a rural area east of the city of Chattanooga, and borders Ooltewah, Collegedale, and north Georgia to the south. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan  Area. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,428.

Apison is fifteen miles from Enterprise South Industrial Park, the location of Volkswagen North America.

In 1881 the railroad came through a small settlement, now known as Apison, that had previously had its mail delivered by horse and buggy. The town then was known as O'Brian that was assigned by the railroad officials. The name was later changed because of another Tennessee town already having the same name. Due to the large deposits of Apison shale rock found along the railroad tracks, the town was renamed to its current name.

Bartlebaugh 

Lies along Champion Road (formerly Old Harrison Pike) east of Solitude Drive to about Wooten Road, but the name also covers a broader area.  Formerly it centered about the intersection of Harrison Pike and old Champion Road and may have had a small post office at one time.  Much of its original area was drowned by the Chickamauga Dam, and most of the rest is now part of Booker T. Washington State Park.

The post office of Bartlebaugh operated 1897-1905, originally planned to be named Toqua.

Oak Hill School, also known as Bartlebaugh School, operated from the late 19th century until merged with Harrison School in 1938.

Bartlebaugh Baptist Church was founded 1926.

Bartlebaugh was annexed into the City of Chattanooga in 1972.

Belvoir

 was the 500-acre dairy farm of Col. W.R. Crabtree, whose home stood at the modern site of Grace Memorial Episcopal Church, that was considered part of the community of Sunnyside.  Belvoir lay mostly east of Belvoir Avenue and Gillespie Trace with (North) Moore Road and Hamilton Place Avenue (South Moore Road) as its eastern boundary.  A small section lay west of Belvoir Avenue that later became Belvoir Heights subdivision. 

Boyce
Is at the junction of the Cincinnati Southern Railway and the Western & Atlantic. The station is one-half mile above the old station, which is now occupied as a residence. There is one store here, opened by James Squires in 1884.
The post office here was originally named Boyce Junction, and was established September 24, 1879. The name was changed to Amnicola October 29, 1879, to Boyce August 5, 1880, and to Amnicola August 24, 1880
The postmasters have been A. C. Taylor, appointed September 24, 1879; Tom Crutchfield, October 29, 1879; A. 0. Taylor, September 5, 1881; William Higgins, May 12, 1882 and James Squires, September 10, 1885. 

Bird’s Mill 

stood on the left bank of South Chickamauga Creek (or Chickamauga River) near the former Brainerd Mission, at the ford on the original route of the road variously known as the Missionary Road and Bird’s Mill Road.  The earlier Missionary Mills stood about a half mile upriver, its wheel powered by water run from Spring Creek.  After the Bird brothers, sons of Philemon Bird, sold the mill, it became known as the Brainerd Mills. While in operation, it was so good that farmers from as far away as Hill  City would bring their grain here, and in the late 19th century and early 20th century, it was a popular enough resort for picnicking, fishing, swimming, etc., that Mission Ridge Incline Railway ran a hack line from its Shallow Ford stop atop the ridge.

Bird’s Mill was also the common name for the eastern part of what later became Brainerd, east of the huge Conner Farm (most of which became part of Belvoir Farm in 1901), as well as a precinct of the 5th Civil District of the county and a voting place, until that shifted to Sunnyside School.

There was a Bird's Mill Post Office whose existence ended when Rural Free Delivery began in 1901.

Birchwood

 is the northernmost community of east Hamilton County, lying along Birchwood Pike where it is intersected by Johnson, Defriese, Daughtery Ferry, and Bunker Hill Roads.  It was one of the four incorporated towns of James County. 

The post office of Birchwood (Birch Wood) has operated in Hamilton County 1854-1873; in James County 1873-1914; and in Hamilton County again 1914-present.

Daughtery’s (Doughty’s) Ferry provided transportation across the Tennessee River between Birchwood and Sale Creek community until 1930.  Roark’s Landing just above Sale Creek Island supported trade and transportation up and down river.

The Rutherford Graded School, a subscription school started in 1893, became the community’s first  public school as Birchwood School under James County in 1915.  Birchwood School one of the last two 13 year (12 year) schools in Hamilton County; only Sale Creek School maintained that configuration longer.  Its high school section closed in the late 1970s; Birchwood Elementary closed in 2014.

Bonny Oaks

 began 1854 as the home of Jeremiah Dent, son-in-law of Col. Lewis Shepherd, father of the later judge of the same name, later bought and named by Capt. J. S. Peak.  Peak left it in his will to the county for a residential industrial school, which was established when the property was combined with the adjacent Trimble farm purchased and donated by Carter Patten in 1898.

Bonny Oaks Industrial School operated here until 1988.

In 1942, the school hosted John D. Bachman Memorial Chapel in a stone building which replaced the frame building housing the school’s first chapel, the Scott Hyde Memorial Chapel.
The Bonny Oaks area was annexed into the City of Chattanooga in 1972.

 Brainerd

 came into being in 1926 when the smaller communities of Ridge side, Sunnyside, Dutchtown, and Bird’s Mill merged by popular vote under that name.  Per the resolution approved, the western boundary was Missionary Ridge Taxing District until the intersection of Shallowford and Rogers (Ridge side) Roads, then east down Rogers Road in a straight line from its end to Chickamauga River, with the City of East Ridge its southern boundary.

They chose the name Brainerd in honor of Brainerd Mission, established in 1817 across the river from Old Chickamauga Town of the Cherokee on land donated by John McDonald, Deputy Superintendent for Southern Indian Affairs during the Revolution, who had had a trading post there 1776-1782 during the war and later farmed it.  In addition to its school, the mission hosted the church congregation named Church of Christ at Chickamauga.

What was annexed into the City of Chattanooga in 1929 as Brainerd had borders were somewhat different from above, with the area east of McBrien Road and south of Brainerd Road left out, meaning that the actual site of the neighborhood’s namesake, Brainerd Mission, was not included, though still considered part of Brainerd.

The post office of Brainerd (at the eponymous mission) operated in the Cherokee Nation East 1834-1838, having moved from Rossville (at Daniel Ross’ former home in St. Elmo).  Brainerd Station of Chattanooga Post Office opened almost as soon as annexation and operated until service shifted to Eastgate Post Office. 

For decades, the community’s school was Sunnyside School, at first located on Talley Road off Brainerd Road then at its later location which is now Signal Centers on North Germantown Road.  It remained operational until falling victim to the mass school closings of 1989.

Brainerd Junior High School opened its doors on Tuxedo Avenue in 1930, becoming Brainerd Middle in the fall of 1989 then 21st Century Academy in 1994, finally closing its doors in 2009.

Brainerd High School opened its doors in the fall of 1960, briefly as the last whites-only high school before Chattanooga public schools finally integrated.  Controversy over its use of the Confederate battle flag as a sports symbol, the name of its sports teams being Rebels, and its mascot a caricature of a Confederate officer led to near riots in 1970 (those were soon dropped).  Today the student population majority is Afro-American.

Henry L. Barger Elementary School opened its doors the same year, and now operates as Barger Academy of Fine Arts.

The oldest church here is Brainerd United Methodist Church, which began in 1895 as McFerrin’s Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, South in Sunnyside School at its original location.  The second church, in the eastern end of the Afro-American former Johnsonville community on North Germantown Road, was founded in 1917 as Shiloh Baptist Church, later renaming itself First Baptist Church of Brainerd.  The next church was Brainerd Baptist Church, founded 1927, which is now located in Belvoir Place.  Brainerd Presbyterian Church, founded 1955, moved to East Brainerd in the late 20th century. 

The Collegedale Community

(In the 1930s)

     During the first 20 years that Southern Junior College was in existence (1916-1936) the Collegedale Community experienced very little growth.  The church had been given instruction not to build Adventist ghettos around its institutions and the principle had been rather carefully followed in Collegedale until that time.  There were only about 20 residences within a one-mile radius of the College, excluding College housing, and about half of those were not Adventist residences.

The occasion that seems to mark the turning point in the growth of the community was the death of M. Don Byrd, Sr. on March 14, 1938.  Beginning a few months thereafter the Byrds and Kings began to sell property along Camp Road to the south of the College.  It was along Camp Road that the strongest growth in the community started during and after the fall of 1938. 

Concord 

was the original name for what is now East Brainerd, though to many that latter name takes in a much bigger area.  Concord took in Hickory Valley from Altamede south, Concord Ridge, most of Red Fox Valley along East Brainerd Road to about Givens Road.  The area along the state line was where Concord and Graysville (Georgia) overlapped.  

From the late 19th century into the 3rd decade of the 20th century, the area was called the area Walnut Grove, reflected in the name of its school.  The name changed to East Brainerd following the creation of Brainerd in 1926, and the main road changed from Bird’s Mill Road to East Brainerd Road; the road was also called Chattanooga-Graysville Pike.

For a short time in the mid-19th century through at least 1863, there was a station called Johnson on the Western & Atlantic Railroad at roughly the point where the tracks crossed the state line.  There was also a wood station at roughly the point where the welcome center for Audobon Acres is now.

The largest engagement between Union and Confederate forces on the day after the Battles of Tunnel Hill, Tn., and Missionary Ridge broke out between Confederates of Maney’s Brigade of Walker’s Division, supported by three regiments of Grigsby’s Brigade, Federals of Beatty’s and McCook’s Brigades of Davis’ Division, each side supported by a battery of artillery, with three divisions behind the Union line.  The fighting lasted an hour before dusk put an end to it and the Confederates escaped.

The community’s school was founded in 1838 as Concord School located at the current site of Concord Baptist Church; it burned in 1863.  The Concord Baptist Church started meeting in the school in 1838 before incorporating as the Baptist Church of Christ at Concord in 1848.  The school operated from 1869 until the Thornbury School replace it in 1875.

In 1878, the Mackie School opened at the site of the modern strip mall adjacent to Heritage Park in a schoolhouse built by the county.  The school relocated to South Gunbarrel (then Silverdale) Road in 1890 and was renamed Walnut Grove School.  Walnut Grove added a high school curriculum in 1896; Robert Sparks Walker, Annie Walters, and Ruth Wofford were its first class of graduates, 24 March 1899.

In 1911, William Walker, whose home stood at the site of Heritage Funeral Home, donated land for a new building, and Walnut Grove relocated to the corner of Bird’s Mill Road and Walnut Grove (North Joiner) Road.  The school became East Brainerd School in 1926 and moved to its current site on Goodwin Road in 2014.

East Brainerd was annexed into the City of Chattanooga in 1972.

Coulterville
Is situated on the Cincinnati Southern Railway, thirty-three miles from Chattanooga. At the time this railway was constructed there was here but one house, that of John J. Coulter, besides the church, both of which were erected in 1852. The church was built by subscription by the people living in the surrounding country. Mr. Coulter gave the railroad company two and one-fourth acres of land, and sold them about three and two-thirds acres more upon which to erect the depot, and the church authorities also sold the railway company the church property, which added to the other makes about six acres owned here by the company. Sale Creek Lodge, No. 280, A. F. & A. M.. then united with the church and erected a building 50x40 feet in size, and two stories high to be used both for religious and educational purposes, standing about 300 yards above the depot, and costing about $1,000. Four stores have been kept in this village: the first by W. L. Pahmyer, in 1877, the second by Spivey & Martin, the third by D. W. & W. H. Wilson, and the fourth by J. J. Kelley. At the present time there are two stores, kept respectively by J. M. Martin and John R Hickman, who has been postmaster since June 3, 1879, when the post office was established. 

(Curtain Pole) The H. L. Judd Factory and Community

          The H. L. Judd Company started operations in Chattanooga on a small scale about 1880 on 11.1 acres they bought close to where the Chickamauga Creek empties into the Tennessee River . They were engaged in the production of drapery poles, hence the name “Curtain Pole Factory”. They eventually manufactured other turned wood products such as, flagpoles, towel bars, and lamp bases. By the turn of the century the company had grown substantially and employed about a hundred workers. On October 5, 1910 the plant was destroyed by fire. The loss was estimated at $200,000. At that time, it was reported that more than 200 were employed. It was rebuilt bigger and with more production.

           Starting about 1911, to meet the needs of its many employees, small four room “shotgun” style tenant houses were built. A school was conducted in one end of a long building that also housed a family in the other end. A church was started in 1915 and a church building was constructed across the street from the plant property and called Sherman Hill Baptist Church , so named because it was the landing and encampment place of General Sherman after crossing the Tennessee River , setting the stage for the Battle of Chattanooga. My maternal grandfather William M. Delzell and his brother Joe started the church and pastored it for many years. There was also a store within a few hundred feet of the church and on the same side of the street known as Ford’s Grocery.

           In 1922 the Company started building new houses, the first of which was occupied by William M. Delzell and his family. Eventually all the old houses were replaced by new ones.

           I would like to see the history of this community preserved for future generations, especially for those who are descendants of those families who lived in the company houses and worked there. I have a partial list of those family names. There were many others who worked at the factory but did not live in factory houses. If you have a connection to or knowledge any of these families, please contact me at my e-mail address bgdenham@hotmail.com

Dallas

     Dallas Bay is now part of the area that was once the site of the first permanent county seat of Hamilton County. Old Dallas occupied a reservation made by Fox Taylor, a Cherokee, under the treaty of 1819. The town of Dallas was laid out and a post office established there in 1822. It was named for Alexander J. Dallas, and remained the seat of Hamilton County until 1840 when it was moved to Harrison. Old Dallas is located about fifteen miles north of Chattanooga on Hixson Pike.

   Dallas, old Dallas, as it is now called, because it is not any longer a town, was started about 1830. Asahel Rawlings had a store there about this time and was the first postmaster, having been appointed in 1822, when the place was named Hamilton Court House. In 1840 the town was in its prime, having then two or three stores, about half a dozen houses and a few cabins, a blacksmith shop, a good hotel and a population of about sixty. When the county seat was moved to Harrison in 1840 Dallas soon declined. Asahal Rawlings was appointed postmaster at Hamilton Court House, May 11, 1822. The name was changed to Dallas, February 20, 1833; the post office was discontinued March 23, 1846; was re-established June 29, 1848; was again discontinued October 2, 1849; was again re-established September 4, 1866, and finally discontinued September 13, 1872. Since Mr. Rawlings, the postmasters have been Aaron M. Rawlings, appointed July 24,1833; Samuel S. M. Doak, July 21, 1836; James S. Yarnall, March 21, 1837; Samuel T. Izen, May 27, 1837; Thomas Stiff, October 26, 1838; Albert W. Boddo, May 1, 1844; George R. Cannon, December 3, 1845; Clinton A. Jones, June 29, 1848; John H. Bradfield, September 4, 1866; Daniel B. Brayfield, November 4, 1869.
Goodspeed's "History of Tennessee" 1887

East Ridge

 is a town incorporated in 1921 from the earlier communities of Thurman Springs, Penny Row, Nickel Street, Smoky Row, and Green’s Lake (the part in Tennessee).  From about 1900 to 1921 when the town was incorporated, the area was known as East Side.  The areas to the east of Chickamauga River (South Chickamauga Creek) called Frawley and Scruggs were added later.  The town’s northern boundary takes in the south side of Navajo Drive until Germantown Road, then drops south to the line of Anderson Avenue-South Terrace to Chickamauga River (South Chickamauga Creek), then takes in the areas east of West Chickamauga Creek and south of Chickamauga River until the bend where Chickamauga River turns west, then follows that river to the Georgia state line.

At the opening of the 20th century, what was then East Side had two schools, East Side School in the west and Spring Creek School in the east, which consolidated in the fall of 1911 as John Ross School, which in the 1920s became East Ridge School.  In 1930, East Ridge School was joined by Anna B. Lacey School (now East Ridge Church of Christ).  A new Spring Creek Elementary School was added in 1952.  In 1954, McBrien Elementary School opened its doors. Anna B. Lacey Elementary School closed in 1985.  McBrien Elementary School was merged into East Ridge Elementary in 2009, with the combined school in a new and larger building under the name of the latter.

East Ridge Junior High (now Middle) School opened in 1954.  East Ridge High School was dedicated in 1959. The oldest church in the community by far is Spring Creek Baptist Church, first established in 1860.

East dale

 was first called Oak Grove in the early 1880s, becoming Hornville in the 1890s.  In 1909, the community voted to change its name its name to Eastdale in hopes of soon being annexed into the City of Chattanooga, even though not even East Chattanooga was yet part of the city.  
The core of Eastdale is the area between Shallowford Road and Wilcox Boulevard from Seminole Drive to the intersection of the two roads, but the name covers a much wider area, north from the City of Ridgeside and Rogers Road and east to Talley Road, then follows Shallowford Road until Shawhan Road, splitting that down the center to Moore Road to include Dalewood Junior High (Middle) School. It also includes the subdivisions to the north of Wilcox Boulevard.
The post office of Hornville operated here 1890-1891.  The post office of Shallowford operated here 1898-1901.

The first public school here was Oak Grove School, established in 1882 at the corner of Shallowford Road and the later Tunnel Boulevard.  It became Hornville School then Shallowford School, which it remained even after the community's name-change in 1909.  The Shallowford School closed in the early 1920s due to the condition of its building, with students transferred to Sunnyside School.  When the new building opened in the fall of 1923, it was Eastdale School.  After desegregation, it became Eastdale Elementary School, surviving until the mass school closings of 1989.

Dalewood Junior High School opened here in 1963, in an area where Eastdale and its neighbor Woodmore met or overlapped, but given that its name ties it to Eastdale, it belongs here.  It remains fully operational today as Dalewood Middle.

The oldest church was Eastdale Missionary Baptist Church, founded 1882 as Oak Grove Baptist, sharing facilities with Oak Grove School until the latter moved to a new location on Cleveland Road (Tunnel Boulevard) and Martin Street.  The congregation moved to Ooltewah-Ringgold Road and became Eastwood Baptist in the 1990s; its former building is now Greater Second Missionary Baptist Church.  Eastdale Community United Methodist Church opened in 1995 in the former Eastdale UMC, founded 1927, a few months after the dissolution of the latter.

The oldest church in East dale is First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, founded 1841 in the original Town of Chattanooga.

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Fairmount
Is a pleasant village of about 150 inhabitants, on Walden's Ridge.
The post office was established in 1872, the postmasters having been James P. Sham, appointed April 19, 1872; Miss M. J. Bohanan, March 20, 1873; George N. Rogers, July 18, 1873; Joseph F. Mayhew, February 3, 1874; Helena M. Scales, November 20, 1876; Green A. Brown, March 13, 1877; Helena M. Scales, January 3, 1879; John S. Scales, May 2, 1884, and Wilson B. Connor, April 27, 1886.
 

Georgetown

 is located along Tennessee State Route 60, along what was part of the main Northern Route of the Trail of Tears in 1838. According to tradition, the village was named for Cherokee trader, George Fields, who owned a two-story log home and operated a trading post at the intersection of now Georgetown Road and Francisco Road in the early 1800s. "An affluent merchant who operated a flatboat on the Hiwassee and Tennessee Rivers, he was also a slave owner and leader in tribal politics. His two-story log dwelling, known as the George House, bears the date of 1812. "The "George House" burned and was dismantled in 2014. It is believed that George Fields was buried just east of where his home once stood.

In the late 1800s Georgetown was an active trading center featuring several gristmills, tanneries, and sawmills. Goods arrived in nearby Cleveland via the Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railroad and were transported by wagon to the village. Several of the main items produced for market during this time were corn, wheat and bacon.

Georgetown's first post office was established March 9, 1837 and has been located in four different counties, including James County, "The Lost County of Tennessee". It currently operates in Meigs County.

Properties on the National Register of Historic Places located in Georgetown:

Melville

    Melville is a small station about one mile south of Daisy. It was named after Melville Adams, who gave a piece of land to the railway company with the understanding that a station should be built thereon. The post office at Melville was established as Chickamauga, March 14, 1850, and changed to Melville, January 15, 1878, with Mr. Adams postmaster. George S. Card was appointed March 14, 1881, and the name of the office was changed to Daisy, December 12, 1883. One of the most remarkable natural phenomena in Hamilton County is the " Sunken Lake " or "Lake Llewellyn," near the top of Walden's Ridge, opposite Melville. It is oval in form, the top of the opening being in extent equal to about five acres of ground, the distance from the surface of the ground to the water being about one hundred feet and the depth of the water, which is as clear as crystal, being also about one hundred feet. The surface of the water is equal in extent to about three acres. On the west side the rocks rise perpendicularly from the water to the surface of the ground, on the north they slightly overhang, and on the other two sides they slope down to the water's edge. How this opening, nearly 200 feet deep in the solid rock, was made is as yet an unsolved problem.
Goodspeed's "History of Tennessee" 1887

New Tyner 

is where the Afro-American community of Hawkinsville relocated after the TNT plant was created.  It originally took in all of Pinewood Drive between Gunbarrel Road and Jenkins Road, along with Will Kelley and Min Tom Roads.  Its center was and is New Hawkinsville Missionary Baptist Church, relocated here in 1941 from the former Hawkinsville section of Tyner along with the community.

New Hawkinsville was annexed into the City of Chattanooga in 1972.

NORMAN'S STORE
c. 1880

A crossroad postoffice, 12 miles north of Ooltewah, the county seat.  Ship to Blue Spring.  population 25. Mail tri-weekly.   (Was located on Birchwood Pike).

Cooley, W. W.- constable

Eldridge, J. C.  - physician

Ford, W. F. - blacksmith

Jordan, R. H.  - Preacher

McDade, H.  - carpenter

McKenzie, R. N.-  live stock dealer

Moon, John P. - blacksmith and real estate agent

Moon, J. T. - blacksmith

Norman, F.E. - postmaster

Norman, W. - C.  - Justice of the Peace

Scott, S. M. - carpenter

Simms, Jerry  - live stock dealer

Submitted by Phebe Morgan   phebem@comcast.net

Ooltewah 

proper sits in the angle formed by the original East Tennessee & Georgia Railroad and the Ooltewah Cut-off of that railroad’s successor, East Tennessee, Virginia, & Georgia Railroad.  It get its name from the former Cherokee settlement of the same name.  During James County’s existence, it served as the seat of the county court, and the third James County Courthouse still stands.  The town of Ooltewah incorporated in 1917, but later dissolved.
After the Cherokee Removal, this was the site of Union Campground for religious camp meetings until it became one of the original stations on the Chattanooga Extension of the East Tennessee & Georgia Railroad (later East Tennessee, Virginia, & Georgia Railroad, then Southern Railway).  The Ooltewah Station depot stood north of the tracks halfway between Watkins Street and Main Street, and the town, laid out in neat squares, grew south of the railroad.  This first Ooltewah depot operated until the 1910s. In 1883, the Tennessee State Line Railroad, a subsidiary of ETV&G, built the thus named railway better known as the Ooltewah Cut-Off to bypass the need to travel all the way to Cleveland to get to Dalton from Chattanooga.  The junction was built northeast of town and the depot named Ooltewah Junction.  After the first Ooltewah Station closed, Ooltewah Junction handled all traffic, including passenger service until the early 1960s.  The depot lasted until the 1980s.
The post office of Ooltewah operated 1837-1843, when it became Julian Gap, operating in Hamilton County until 1857 when it moved to Bradley County, returning to Hamilton County as Ooltewah in 1859, moving to James County in 1871, and back to Hamilton County in 1919.  Rural Free Delivery service started out of here in 1904.

Ooltewah School (1-12) already operated at the beginning of the 20th century.  James County High School was built early in the century, later becoming Ooltewah High School.  In the 1970s, Ooltewah High’s grades 9-12 moved into a new building at the southern end of Snow Hill Road, while its grades 7-8 combined with grade 6 of Ooltewah Elementary School as Ooltewah Middle School about a half mile south of town.

In the 1980s, overcrowding at Ooltewah Elementary necessitated opening Mountain Oaks Elementary School in the old high school building that had been newly refurbished.  That closed in 2000.
The first church here was Ooltewah Cumberland Presbyterian Church, founded 1841.  The oldest extant white church is Ooltewah Methodist Church, founded 1870.  The oldest black church is Ooltewah Methodist Church (Colored), founded 1875. 

The City of Red Bank
Hamilton County Tennessee

    Before the Civil War, the area we now know as Red Bank was called Dry Valley or Hamilton. After the war a union church was established where all denominations came together to worship and the area eventually became known as Pleasant Hills. In 1885, George S. Hartman, the area's first Postmaster, received a letter from the Post Office Department requesting that the name Pleasant Hills be changed because the name was already being used in several other areas. After receiving the request, Mr. and Mrs. Hartman were sitting in their home trying to think of another name for their rapidly growing community when Mrs. Hartman looked out the window and saw the red bank of a hill, freshly washed by rain. So, in 1887 "Red Bank" became the community's official name. 

     Red Bank began as an early rural suburb of Chattanooga running along the Dayton Pike from Stringer's Ridge to Daisy, TN. It's growth began by a housing boom following World War I. Early settlements sprang up along the stops of the Chattanooga Traction Company trolley line. The first of these stops being Valdeau; then came White Oak, Flora, Morrison, Ford and Red Bank. Other divisions of the area were called Midvale Park, Oak Wood, Druid Hills and Rustic Dale. Numerous large and beautiful homes were built in Red Bank along Dayton Pike in the late 1800s and early 1900s. So many in fact, that in 1924, a movement began by many of the residents along the Pike, to have the area renamed "Daytonia." An effort was also made to have the name of the Red Bank School changed to Daytonia and the Chattanooga Traction Company was even asked to change the name on the Red Bank Trolley car. Many older settlers of the Dayton Pike opposed the name change and the efforts eventually faded.

     The first school in Red Bank was a five-classroom building erected on the corner of Dayton Boulevard and Morrison Springs Road. It was built in 1913 as an elementary school. An auditorium was added in 1937 and a second addition was completed in 1951 making Red Bank Elementary the largest elementary school in the county. Red Bank's first junior high school was built on Dayton Boulevard in 1924 and destroyed by fire in 1935. The school was rebuilt in 1936 and later expanded into a high school. The first graduates of Red Bank High School received their diplomas in 1940.

     By 1945, the population in the area of Red Bank had grown to over 4, 000 and thoughts of becoming a new city began to arise as an option that was seriously being considered by many of its residents. Rumors were running high that the city of Chattanooga might annex Red Bank within its own boundaries. An incorporation meeting held in January 1945 led to a long and heated debate among local residents. Many felt that incorporation should be postponed until after the war so that men who were in the service would have the opportunity to vote. D. F. Hamilton, a long time resident of Red Bank, led the opposition by urging, "Leave this incorporation alone until after the war. Let's put everything we have behind our boys on the fighting front and spend nothing that might help bring the war to a speedy and victorious close." It was suggested that a charter be completed for the new city and published in the local papers so that all residents of the community could understand what incorporation would mean. The meeting adjourned with no solution and no date set for another meeting.

     In February of 1945, a bill was introduced to the State Legislature that would allow Red Bank to become a municipality. The bill was to have set up the machinery for the government of the new city providing a majority of the qualified voters approved such an action in a referendum to be held within 45 days of the bill's enactment.

     The charter for the new city presented to the Legislature proposed to divide the new municipality into two districts. One district would be the area north of Leawood Street and the second south of Leawood Street. The measure also proposed terms for the mayor and city commissioners be set for four years, except for those elected the first time. Members of the city commission were not to be compensated for their services and the mayor would have no vote in commission maters except in the case of a tie. A stringent provision outlawing nepotism was included in the charter bill - no relative of a member of the commission could be employed by the city if they were related within the fourth degree of the law.

     The charter proposed the establishment of a jail and workhouse to handle prisoners. It would also outlaw the sale of intoxicating beverages of any nature and give the town commission authority to regulate places of amusement. The apparent purpose of this provision being to regulate the showing of "moving pictures" on Sunday.

     The State Legislature promised to enact the new bill and give the people of Red Bank an opportunity to vote on incorporation. However, area business leaders raised a large opposition to the bill and went so far as to send telegrams to the Legislature voicing their opposition. Despite the opposition, Gov. Jim McCord signed the new bill into law on March 1, 1945 and a referendum date was set for April 14 for the citizens to vote on incorporation.

     On April 14, 1945 a mere 478 registered voters cast their ballots to strongly defeat the measure for Red Bank's bid in becoming a new municipality. The vote was 95 for incorporation and 383 against. The major opinion voiced against incorporation was the proposed boundaries for the new city. Many felt that the southern boundary should have been set at Newberry Street and should have included White Oak and other areas. Sam Carter, who resided in Red Bank for many years, complained, "You could turn a snake lose to crawl the line they had in that incorporation act and he would break his back trying to get over it." The question of Red Bank becoming Hamilton County's newest city would not be raised again for another ten years.

     In 1955, with a population of over 10,000, fears of being absorbed by the city of Chattanooga caused the residents of Red Bank to consider incorporating their community once again. On April 19, 1955 about 200 citizens of Red Bank and White Oak, fearful of being annexed, voted in favor of incorporating, even though Chattanooga Mayor Olgiati had assured them that the annexation of Red Bank had not been discussed by the Chattanooga city council. The State Legislature in 1955 had passed a bill that would have enabled Chattanooga to annex Red Bank without voter approval. There was now a sense of urgency for residents of Red Bank to form their own city. Boundaries for the new city, to be called Red Bank-White Oak, were now to include the voting precincts of Red Bank 1 and 2 and White Oak. Hixson, Falling Water, Valdeau, Lupton City and Stuart Heights were not included in the limits of the proposed township.

     In June of 1955, of the 4,712 registered voters in the Red Bank-White Oak area, only 940 cast their votes to make Red Bank-White Oak the sixth municipality in Hamilton County. The vote ran 631 in favor of incorporation and 309 against. On July 19, 1955 Red Bank-White Oak elected five new city commissioners: Paul T. Grammer, James F. Guess, Jr., R. Hayden Landers, Burk S. "Tom" Millard and Red Bank Elementary School Principal, J. E. Brown. By a vote of the five city commissioners, Tom Millard was elected Red Bank's first Mayor.

The new office for the Red Bank-White Oak township was opened in the Masonic Building on Unaka Street. By 1967, new and larger facilities were needed. On October 21, 1967 a new $100, 000 city hall was dedicated on Dayton Boulevard about a block from the old city hall. 

In March of 1966, the City Commissioners of Red Bank-White Oak, took the first steps in attempting to shorten the cumbersome name of their city. The state highway department had requested that the long name be shortened because it would not fit on standard freeway signs that were being erected in the area. The state was already using the name "Red Bank" to designate the community. The name "White Oak" could not be used since there was a small community of White Oak, TN in Campbell County. It was suggested that "Bank" might be taken out of Red Bank, the "White" out of White Oak and the community named "Red Oak."

     By August of 1966 the city commissioners of Red Bank-White Oak had passed an ordinance calling for a referendum at the state election in November declaring that the name be known as the City of Red Bank. The residents overwhelmingly approved the name change in the November referendum and on January 7, 1967 the city of Red Bank-White Oak officially became Red Bank.

© 2001  by Dennis C. Wilson.  All rights reserved.

Special thanks to the employees of Red Bank City Hall for their assistance with the photographs and newspaper articles

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 Ridgeside

 lies mostly on what was once the Afro-American community of Johnsonville that became a dairy farm.  It was based on John T. and P.W. Shepherd’s Hill Glen Dairy.  When these Shepherds (no relation to those of Altamede and Hickory Valley) began to subdivide the former dairy lands, they incorporated as the Taxing District of Ridgevale, in about 1922.  In 1931, the residents reincorporated as the City of Ridgeside, which includes the subdivisions of Shepherd Hills, Crescent Park, Shepherd Knolls, Glen Park, and Circle Park.  It is still independent.

The Shepherd Community

     The Shepherd Community is named for Judge Lewis Shepherd who was the son of one of the largest slaveholders in Hamilton County.  Lewis’ father, Col. Lewis Shepherd owned 24 slaves and thousands of acres in Hickory Valley just 2 miles from what is now Shepherd.  The farm “Overseer” was John Walker.  Col. Shepherd died in 1856 when he was 60 years old.  His son Lewis having been born in 1846 when James K. Polk was president was then only 10 years old.  The widow Shepherd had a $150,000 estate at the start of the Civil War.

Lewis Shepherd studied at Aldehoff’s Institute and at Burritt College in Van Buren County.  When he was 15, he enlisted with the Confederate forces and fought throughout the war.  He was with Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest at the Battle of Chickamauga and with Gen. Joe Wheeler in his cavalry raids in Middle Tennessee.  He was finally captured and spent a year in prison at Camp Morton at Indianapolis.  Following his exchange in February of 1865, Shepherd joined the cavalry of Gen. J. C. Vaughn in Southwestern Virginia.  After the surrender at Appomattox, he was with the escort of President Jefferson Davis until the cavalry was disbanded in Washington, GA in May of 1865.

When Lewis and Lilah moved to their new home in Chattanooga, they brought with them a former slave, Thad Rankin.  Thad had been a slave in Dunlap, Tennessee which is located about 30 miles from Chattanooga across Signal Mountain.  His master was Squire Bill Rankin.  (Slaves took the last names of their masters.)  Thad was 11 years old when the Civil War started.   After the war he went to work for Alexander and Sarah Pope in Sequatchie County.  They were the parents of Lilah Pope Shepherd, the wife of Judge Lewis Shepherd.  Thad was brought to what became known as Shepherd by the couple.  He was to be a servant and to engage in sharecropping.  He worked for the Shepherds for over 60 years.