Learning about my home town

We went to a program at the Chattanooga History Center this evening. The director, Dr. Black, covered a huge range of material about our city, mainly covering the time from immediately after the Civil War to about the mid 1970s. These are 10 things I learned about Chattanooga tonight:

1. Chattanooga was pivotal during the Civil war because of its being a railroad hub.

2. Many Union officers stationed here during the war returned afterwards and became part of the growth and prosperity of the city.
3. During the last half of the 19^th Century, the black population ranged between 40-50% of the inhabitants of the city.

4. There was a vibrant black commercial presence in several areas of the city.

5. There were black policemen, black firemen, black aldermen, all in the years immediately following the end of the war.
6. Jim Crow laws started to be passed during that time, and by the earely 20^th Century, segregation was in full sway, and would remain so until the mid20^th Century. 

7. In 1950, Chattanooga was the 9^th most industrialized city in the US, with the 2^nd most diversified industries (second only to Brooklyn).

8. Adolph Ochs moved to Chattanooga and bought the struggling newspaper, the Chattanooga Times. He made it into on of the first papers in the country that printed news without a specific bias. (He later went on to buy another struggling newspaper - the New York Times).

9. A lot of Chattanooga’s 20^th Century prosperity began when George Thomas convinced Asa Candler (the inventor of Coca Cola in Atlanta) to give him the world-wide right to bottle Coke. He and his partner were able to develop the process by using the crimped metal bottle cap that is still being used today. The zillions of dollars made from this early investment went on to invest in a lot of new industry starting up in Chattanooga.

10. Another of the big entrepreneurs in early Chattanooga was Z. Patten, who made his fortune selling patent medicines (mainly a nostrum called “Wine of Cardui”). This company is now Chattem, which makes many of the OTC products we use today.

It’s a fascinating story. The newly expanded History Center will finally be open in Spring 2015. Come visit.