It’s a safe bet that most of us know that Coolidge Park on the North Shore is named after World War II veteran and Medal of Honor winner Charles Coolidge.
Likewise, most of us probably know that Little Debbie snack cakes are named after the then-4-year-old granddaughter of McKee Food founders Ruth and O.D. McKee.
And we’re all pretty familiar with the name Patten, which is scattered throughout Chattanooga like confetti – Patten & Patten investment advisers, Patten Towers, Patten Chapel Road, Patten Parkway, UTC’s Patten Chapel – a tribute to the family that, among other achievements, founded what is now Chattem, owner of brands such as Allegra, Gold Bond, Pamprin, Aspercreme and Selsun Blue.
But did you know St. Elmo took its name from a book? That Warner Park honors a Southerner who spent most of the Civil War in a federal prison? That Mary Walker Towers was named after a 121-year-old former slave?
We pass these buildings or parks or neighborhoods every day; we drive down streets named after some prominent person in Chattanooga history. For a moment we think, “I wonder whose name that is?” Then, like a meteor streaking across the sky, the moment passes, life intrudes and the question is gone.