Chattanooga History Experience showcases past stories of city, county

Twelve thousand years of human history fit within 3,000 square feet at the Chattanooga History Experience.

From the earliest years of human settlement at Moccasin Bend to the Chattanooga renaissance, the Chattanooga History Experience aims to tell a fuller story of Chattanooga and Hamilton County’s history while making it accessible to all ages.

Situated within a small commercial space on Broad Street next to High Point Climbing and Fitness, the new attraction opened Friday.

“This community’s stories are unique,” Linda Moss Mines, Chattanooga-Hamilton County historian, said before visitors entered the attraction. “They are unique for Tennessee. They’re unique for the region. They’re unique for the nation.”

History is the “thread that connects our past with the present and guides us toward the future,” Mines said.

The county is providing $500,000 for the attraction, while the city is contributing $250,000.

(READ MORE: Hamilton County Commission hopes to make splash with $750K in tourism projects)

As visitors entered the attraction, they first wound their way around a representation of the Tennessee Valley’s mountains, learning about the Tennessee River that has been and continues to be a vital component of the city and county’s identity. Once through the mountains, visitors came face-to-face with a tower comprised of oversized Coca-Cola bottles in a section of the experience that featured displays on the lynching of Ed Johnson, the Civil War battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, newspaper publisher Adolph Ochs, Civil Rights-era sit-ins and more.

Chattanooga History Experience showcases past stories of city, county

Visitors then followed the flow of time, represented as a 40-foot-long timeline where each 12-inch hash mark represented 300 years of history. The timeline showcases the progression from the early habitation of the area that would become Chattanooga and Hamilton County to more recent developments such as the opening of the Tennessee Aquarium.

The last section of the experience is more expansive, offering greater room to explore myriad stories from history. Displays focus on the Native American people of this area, the tumultuous nature of the Tennessee River before the development of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s dam network and Chattanooga’s industrial development following the Civil War, among other topics.

(READ MORE: America at 250: The moments that made Chattanooga)

Throughout the history experience, creative director Isaiah Smallman wants visitors to ask, “Why are we here?”

“We want the museum to not only answer that but continue to encourage people to actually keep asking it,” Smallman said in an interview. “Because asking, ‘Why am I here,’ to me is actually a very entrepreneurial question at times.”

For Smallman, the answer to that question could be similar to that of those who lived here generations ago — “It’s a great place to live.”

“Chattanooga is fertile, amazing soil that lives can be built in, and I think that’s why we keep seeing Chattanooga play this outsized role in history,” Smallman said.

There is space left to further develop the history experience, adding stories that are not already included, Smallman said. The Broad Street space is a good start, but Smallman said a city with a history as rich as Chattanooga’s needs a bigger museum — an initiative that will take some time to assemble.

In the meantime, Smallman hopes non-residents visit the experience and come away thinking of Chattanooga as a far richer place than just a nice tourist destination, he said.

As for residents, Smallman said he hopes they find their own answer to the question, “Why am I here?”

Contact outdoors reporter Sam Still at sstill@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6579.

Note: This story was updated at 9:40 a.m. on Aug. 24 to correct the days the experience is open.