Glenn Miller may have done much to put the name Chattanooga in the minds of many Americans with his famous Swing tune "Chattanooga Choo Choo," and for good reason. The song's title evokes the city's history as a railroad hub and industrial center, since its founding.


The town was originally known as Ross's Landing, owing to its having been established by John Ross, a chief of the Cherokee Nation. Ross was an affluent and powerful leader of his people, despite barely being able to speak the Cherokee language and being only about 1/8 Cherokee. An adept businessman, he established this settlement as a Cherokee trading center in 1816. After Trail of Tears, in 1838, the Cherokee had to abandon their holdings in north Georgia and east Tennessee, and move west to Oklahoma.


At that time the settlement's name was changed to Chattanooga, which is of uncertain origin. Some say it meant Choctaw Town, for one of the native peoples who lived nearby. Another proposed meaning that makes sense comes from a Creek word, Chat-to-to-noog-gee, meaning "rock rising to a point," a reference perhaps to nearby Lookout Mountain. And the Cherokee used to call nearby Chattanooga Creek Tsatanugi, and perhaps that's the source. So take your pick.


Whatever origin the term has, Chattanooga was chartered in 1839.


East Tennessee was not especially enthusiastic about secession. Federal forces commanded by Ulysses S. Grant during the U.S. Civil War found supporters in Chattanooga after they took the city in late 1863. The capitulation of Chattanooga gave U.S. General William T. Sherman a launch pad for his assault on Georgia, a campaign that began the following spring.


Sitting at the crossroads of several interstate highways (I-24/I-75/I-59 from the south), Chattanooga, with a 2000 population of 155,000, is well positioned to continue its role as a center of industry and trade. It's just an hour and a half to Atlanta, where an international airport serves the world.


Numerous corporations are headquartered in Chattanooga, among them Miller Industries, the world's largest manufacturer of tow trucks. As the city is the birthplace of the tow truck, it's fitting that it should also be the home of the International Towing Museum, drawing visitors from around the world to this most unusual museum. .


Downtown Chattanooga had grown ragged and distressed looking, but the opening of the Tennessee Aquarium 20 years ago jumpstarted a revitalization program that could be a model for the nation. Initially focused on the ecosystem of the Tennessee River, which flows through the center of Chattanooga, the Aquarium has added a $30 million saltwater expansion called "Ocean Journey." The pedestrian-exclusive Walnut Street Bridge, spanning the Tennessee River, attracts early morning joggers and walkers, restoring the needed human element to Downtown.


Yielding major dividends, this revitalization includes enhancements in housing, dining and retail sources along the banks of the Tennessee River as well as in Downtown. Adding to the cultural amenities are the second largest campus of the University of Tennessee, the Hunter Museum of American Art, now expanded and linked by walkway to Downtown Chattanooga, and the adjacent Bluff View Art District with its sculpture garden, restaurants and exhibition spaces.


With a revived central business district, Chattanooga continues to attract newcomers and new businesses to the area. Updated in 2003, the Chattanooga MSA now encompasses Hamilton, Marion and Sequatchie counties in Tennessee and Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties in Georgia.


Diversified manufacturing and service industries have seen the local economy through some tough times, as cheap foreign labor drew away its industrial base. Substantial branch offices of major insurance and telecommunications companies, plus three major hospital systems, are among the area's largest employers.


With the surrounding natural beauty of these justly famed east Tennessee mountains, Chattanooga is a model American city. Its thriving economic and cultural life and its Southern traditions make it an ideal place in which to live.