Hamilton County leaders will herald the beginning of the holiday season with a Christmas tree lighting ceremony Friday evening on the lawn of the County Courthouse at 625 Georgia Ave.
"The courthouse lawn has been a place of gathering for our county for well over a century, and we wanted to start a new tradition to gather together early in the Christmas season to light a community tree," Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp said in a news release Monday.
"I'm very grateful to the dozens of county employees who have been involved in preparing the massive tree and planning this wonderful event to kick off Christmastime in Hamilton County."
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The event will occur from 5-7 p.m., the news release said, and feature performances by the Hixson High School choir and Chattanooga State Community College choir. Special guests include Santa, Mrs. Claus and Buddy the Elf.
The official program and tree lighting will begin at 5:45 p.m. with remarks by Wamp and County Commission Chairman Chip Baker. There will also be a Christmas movie, face painting, music, candy cane giveaways and a food truck offering warm beverages.
The news release from the mayor's office described the event as the "first-ever Christmas tree lighting" on the lawn outside the old Courthouse, but newspaper clippings indicate that at least two similar events may have occurred early in the 20th century.
"This is the first Christmas tree lighting we were aware of but are happy to stand corrected if a tree was lit 85 years ago," spokeswoman Mary Francis Hoots said in a text Tuesday. "It sounds like a wonderful tradition we are excited to bring back."
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An article published by the Chattanooga Sunday Times on Nov. 22, 1914, announced that a community tree would be erected on the "courthouse lawn" on Christmas Eve, although it did not specify an address.
More than 20 years later, the Chattanooga Daily Times reported on Nov. 29, 1937, about plans to host an opening ceremony that evening for a Christmastime merchants' festival on the "Courthouse lawn." It did not list an address for the event.
Harry Miller, president of the Retail Merchants' Association, and then-Chattanooga Mayor Edward David Bass, were slated to make brief speeches during the event. Lights decorating Market, Broad and several cross streets would be lit, the paper said.
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"Christmas carols will be heard over loudspeakers placed along Market and Broad streets," the article states. "The municipal Christmas tree on the Courthouse lawn will be lighted, and around it the crowd will assemble early in the evening for the addresses."
The county is funding the event. Hoots said the tree is 16 to 18 feet tall and comes from North Carolina.
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @flavid_doyd.