He’s part computer geek, part “Dear Abby” and part private investigator, with a little global ambassador thrown in for fun.

He’s Phillip Stevens, the city of Chattanooga’s full-time Webmaster.

When someone clicks on the anonymous “Contact Us” link on Chattanooga’s Web site, it’s Mr. Stevens on the other end of the e-mail. He takes the time to answer each one individually — whether it’s about garbage pickup or the history of Chattanooga — despite the fact that he gets close to 3,000 messages a year from all over the world.

“I think a lot of Webmasters stop at ‘http’ codes,” Mr. Stevens said. “But I think there’s a public relations aspect to it. I try to be an ambassador for the city.”

Mr. Stevens “does a fantastic job in that capacity,” says Richard Beeland, spokesman for Mayor Ron Littlefield. “A lot of people contact us who have concerns about things or want answers to certain questions, and he’ll go above and beyond to find answers for those people.”

The Webmaster fields every inquiry except for those directed to the fire or police department, and that can involve everything from Civil War history to connecting someone with his or her long-lost school teacher. Mr. Stevens recalls one e-mail conversation with a couple from Poland that lasted for about a month and resulted in their decision to move to Chattanooga in 2003.

Finding answers isn’t always simple, Mr. Stevens said. While some of the messages include routine questions that can be answered with a few minutes of Internet research, others require getting out of the office and getting his hands dirty — literally.

When a grade schooler in Italy e-mailed to explain that he was collecting sand from across the world, Mr. Stevens didn’t hesitate to add Chattanooga’s. He recalls running over to the city’s Public Works Department and filling a small container of the stuff to mail back to the boy.

Last year, Mr. Stevens went to the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library to help a woman from Sweden track down an uncle who had been separated from the family during World War II. He tracked the man down in Flat Rock, Ala., and gave the woman his contact information to set up a reunion.

The postcard of thanks he received — addressed simply to the “Chattanooga Mayor’s Office, Alabama, USA” — still sits framed on his desk, a reminder of why he does what he does, even if it requires after-hours research at night and on weekends.

“It’s the part of the job that I love, especially when you can make an ending like that,” Mr. Stevens said. “If they went to the trouble to write me an e-mail, I certainly can write back with all that I have. I think they deserve that, especially when this history is right in our backyard.”

Mr. Stevens’ most recent international quest started when a man in the Netherlands e-mailed him, asking for information about the Chattanooga National Cemetery, where he believed a relative was buried.

While Mr. Stevens could have responded back with a Web link to information about the cemetery, he instead went to the cemetery, researched the exact location of the grave and took photographs of it.

The man who received the pictures, Gunther Wening, said he couldn’t believe that Mr. Stevens had gone to so much trouble.

“He didn’t even know me, and he put in so much effort,” Mr. Wening said.

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