In the 1860s, the Civil War brought destruction to the Chattanooga-area landscape. But today, the war and the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park that memorializes it bring the region about $50 million a year.
“People coming to Chattanooga and North Georgia to look for their Civil War-heritage experience spend $50 million a year here by eating in restaurants, staying in motels and shopping,” said Kay Parish, executive director of the Friends of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.
A million people come here every year looking for Civil War history, she said. “So Civil War history — and history in general — is something that it would behoove us to highlight and focus on.”
As the 150th anniversary of the Civil War approaches, state and local officials are working to fill the niche.
Earlier this year, a new Tennessee Civil War Trails program got a jump-start in Chattanooga with the installation of a dozen interpretive signs for driving tours.