(Editor’s note: Second in a three-part series.)
As members of the Methodist Episcopal Church from East Tennessee debated the pending merger of Chattanooga University, the predecessor to UTC, and Athens’ Grant University, Chattanoogans praised the local institution and its accomplishments.
On New Year’s Day, 1888, the Chattanooga Daily Times published a description of the city’s “Methodist University” for those readers who had not visited the site “in the eastern portion of the city, enclosed by Oak, Baldwin and McCallie Streets.” The news item elaborated on “one of the striking monuments of the liberality, progress and development of that great church organization,” noting the city’s geographic prominence and its easy access by rail, river and road.
Regarding the Queen Anne-Gothic structure, the Times article detailed its beauty: “Brick, four stories high with Mansard roof; trimmed in galvanized iron and erected on a basement foundation of stone … with four turrets built at equal intervals, rising to a height of 72 feet with dormer windows and numerous pinnacles adding a handsome finish.” The two lower floors featured an entrance leading to a main assembly hall with offices, cloak and classrooms, dining hall, kitchen, coal room and other necessary maintenance rooms. The upper floors included 36 dormitory rooms and additional studio rooms for faculty.
Although the local university’s enrollment was growing, discussions continued about a possible merger between Chattanooga University and Grant University. Upon the occasion of the general’s birthday, April 27, representatives of both schools and a large number of the veterans of the Grand Old Army of the Republic gathered in Athens for the commemoration, which included “educational” discussions. Chattanooga delegates including E.S. Nixson, A.C. Stone, Eugene Balch, A.H. Marston, J.S. Beatty, Sam Duncan, Charles Mitchell, A.F. Hulse and C.W. Norwood participated. No compromise was reached.