Chickamauga and Chattanooga Administrative History

CHAPTER II:
WAR DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATION (continued)

G. Lookout Mountain

For much of the early history of the park Lookout Mountain was considered a detached entity, administratively as well as physically. Originally the area composing Point Park had been privately owned, and attempts by the owners to fence the point and charge admission antagonized visitors and instigated legal proceedings. Eventually the point was closed, but on the tract directly below a large hotel opened and an incline railway was operating in 1887. By 1895 the owners of the point began running another incline which ascended the 1500-foot distance to the point in only a mile. But area residents soon tired of the competition and advocated Government acquisition of the tract for inclusion in Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Under the leadership of Adolph Ochs, former Chattanoogan and then publisher of the New York Times, and Alexander W. Chambliss, a local attorney, the transfer of the property to the Federal Government was completed on August 23, 1898. Eight months later Tennessee ceded jurisdiction over the land to the United States. [158]

The first concessioner on Lookout Mountain was J.H. Gaston, who obtained a revocable license to operate a photograph gallery in Point Park in 1899. Gaston in 1901 turned the business over to George T. Linn and William A. Rollins, who in 1905 renewed the license for "the exclusive right to make photographs of persons for profit. . . ." Rollins later withdrew from the business. [159] Meantime, development of the point progressed with the beginning of construction of a wall at its southern boundary, placement of gun carriages and guns in the old earthworks, and completion of roads and trails on the Cravens House terrace below the point. As of 1901 nine state monuments had been erected on the lower site and work had commenced on an imposing monument for the State of New York. Bronze historical tablets were also finished and installed, and Confederate field batteries emplaced on both tracts. [160] The stone wall and entrance designed by Engineer Betts in the shape of the United States Army Engineer Corps insignia was nearly finished by 1905, although a wall along the east bluff and a circle drive with paved gutters was still needed. [161] Improvements came slowly, bringing complaints from citizens who wanted a caretaker's lodge, pavilions, benches, and guide service at Point Park. Congress in 1913 responded with legislation providing for the lodge, [162] although its construction was delayed for years. [163]

The Lookout Mountain portion of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park was enhanced during the 1920s and 1930s by local enterprise in developing Chattanooga-Lookout Mountain Park. A corporation inspired and financially aided by Adolph Ochs succeeded in acquiring land on the east and west slopes of the mountain and the park was chartered in 1926. One of Ochs's objectives was to restore vegetation and to beautify the area with hanging gardens and develop its natural attributes. Ochs personally contributed a large stipend; he also loaned $150,000 to reconstruct the highway up the mountain. His brother, Milton, directed the project. Public-spirited citizens were encouraged to subscribe to the work, and the Tennessee legislature gave it tax-exempt status. Local hiking clubs were organized and numerous trails for walking and nature study activities were laid out. [164] Complementing this project was the establishment of Civilian Conservation Camps on Lookout Mountain in the early 1930s. Workmen from those camps assisted in the construction of trails as well as roads, and specific hiking paths laid out by the CCC included Skyuka Trail, Fire Trail, East and West Bluff Trails, Whiteside Trail, Guild Trail, Hardy Trail, Rifle Pit Trail, Gum Spring Trail, Shingle Trail, and Glen Trail. [165] Adolph Ochs died before his envisioned park was completed. On June 22, 1935, the tract comprising Chattanooga-Lookout Mountain Park--some 2,700 acres--was donated as a gift to the Federal Government as an addition to Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. [166]