No matter how long you have lived out here … you have seen more in the last three years than at any time before.
Part of Ooltewah is inside the city limits of Collegedale. Ooltewah High School is in the city of Chattanooga. Main Street, to long-term residents, is in "Old Ooltewah," but is also in Collegedale. Some of Ooltewah rests in a community called Summit. Most of Ooltewah is in unincorporated Hamilton County.
There is not even agreement about the origins of the name "Ooltewah." Some believe it came from the Creek Native American word meaning "water" or "resting place." Most say the name came from the Cherokee word meaning "owl's nest;" thus, the nickname of the Ooltewah High School Owls.
Where in the world is Ooltewah? And what is it?
Steve Ray bought his Ooltewah service station, Steve Ray's Midnite Oil, in 1983 and has watched the city grow around him.Steve Ray, the unofficial mayor of Ooltewah, knows exactly where Ooltewah is.
Standing in his Midnite Oil service station just off Interstate 75 at the Ooltewah exit, Ray says Ooltewah is "south to the railroad tracks" that cut through Collegedale. He makes a small adjustment to include Couch's BBQ, one of his favorite places. Then, "it's everything north to Mahan Gap Road," which dissects the northeastern part of Hamilton County. To the west, "it's everything up Hunter Road until you get to Wolftever Creek. After that, it's Highway 58 and Chattanooga." To the east, "it's all the way to McDonald and the Bradley County line."
When talking about the breadth of the 37363 ZIP code, which stretches about 25 miles from the Georgia line to Highway 58, Ray smiles and says, "Ooltewah is a part of 37363, but most of 37363 is not part of Ooltewah."
Ray bought his service station and settled in Ooltewah in 1983. From the beginning, Midnite Oil was a service station, not a convenience store with gas. The old-school focus on "being there" to serve customers hasn't changed as Ooltewah has exploded around him.
"My wife's father owned a small oil company and I came down here to work for him," Ray says. "After a year the service stationed opened up, and I had seen how service stations operated and thought that was a pretty good business.
"How many service stations are there like this just off the interstate that pay attention to the details? I take great pride in small things, and that is historically how service stations used to do it. It's very boring, it's not sexy. But it's just how it is out here."
The Volkswagen complex to the east of Ooltewah ignited the growth in the area in 2008. According to the multiple listing service of the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors, the growth in home sales, excluding those sold by owners, has been strong and consistent since 2010, when 336 homes sold through Realtors. That number grew to 572 in 2018.
"There are some old-timers around here who have seen a lot," says Ray. "But I'll say this, no matter how long you have lived out here, and I have been out here long enough to see just about all of it, you have seen more in the last three years than at any time before. Cambridge Square has started to zoom over the past three years and become the hub of Ooltewah."
The commercial growth in Ooltewah is shared by Collegedale and Chattanooga, which annexed commercial properties through the years. Today, Ray says, you can stand in the middle of the intersection of Main Street and Highway 64 and take one step into either unincorporated Hamilton County, Chattanooga or Collegedale.
In 2016, state Rep. Mike Carter passed landmark legislation in Tennessee that struck down a city's ability to annex land by passing a city ordinance. That ended the ability of Chattanooga and Collegedale to infringe further on unincorporated Hamilton County.
"In 10 years most of the major retail and construction will be over, and then it will move toward Cleveland," Ray says. "What makes Ooltewah different is the land - land that used to be part of large farms that is now being developed. We are expandable. Collegedale and Chattanooga are not."
Where 'the mayor' eats
Couch's BBQ and its cozy dining is technically in a community called Summit along Old Lee Highway, but Ray considers Couch's "full Ooltewah" - and the best barbecue, hands down. Couch's serves up barbecue cooked on a brick pit, hand-turned and basted with the same recipe since its founding in 1946. 8307 Old Lee Highway. Call 423-238-4801.
"I'm a barbecue guy, but when I want casual dining, it's Beef 'O'Brady's," says Ray. The family pub is known for its Buffalo-style chicken wings and the Watterson, a roast beef on rye sandwich. 5958 Snow Hill Road. Call 423-910-0261.
(MORE) LOCAL FLAVOR
Retail/residential Cambridge Square is enlivening the dining scene in Ooltewah, with many downtown Chattanooga restaurants building second locations there, including Il Primo Italian restaurant and 1885 Southern Coastal Grill. 1885 is set to open in summer 2019. Both restaurants are already popular with local diners - they were named repeated finalists in the 2018 "Best of the Best" by Chattanooga Times Free Press readers.
Lisa Goolsby is the owner of Wired Coffee Bar.A perennially popular truly homegrown restaurant is Ooltewah's Countryside Cafe, which has been a dining staple since 1990. The down-home, family-run restaurant swept the 2018 Best of the Best awards, claiming the top spot for Best Country Cooking and Best Meat-and-Three, and was named one of three finalists for Best All-Around Restaurant, Best Meal for the Money and Best Early Bird Dinner. 8223 Mahan Gap Road. Call 423-344-8646.
Wired Coffee Bar, meanwhile, is relatively new, at least in Ooltewah terms. Located right in the middle of what was historically Old Ooltewah, owner Lisa Goolsby says the business, technically inside the Collegedale city limits, is "part Collegedale, probably more Ooltewah." Wired moved to its current location in 2016 and has added a 2,000-square-foot event space and outdoor patio with a fireplace since then. The shop is always full of Southern University students preparing for class in the early morning, and is frequented by high school students from East Hamilton and Ooltewah high schools in the evening. The baristas are long-term employees and locals. A Starbucks will soon open around the Ooltewah exit. "That's great," says Goolsby, "because people who come to Wired are not looking for drive-thru coffee." 5707 Main St. Call 423-805-7602.
Cambridge SquareCAMBRIDGE SQUARE
Cambridge Square is emerging as a hub in Ooltewah. The development on U.S. Highway 64 heading northeast to Bradley County is in its seventh year and half of the planned 12-building, 230,000-square-foot complex is built out. Currently, 31 tenants - restaurants, small businesses and medical spaces - occupy nearly 100 percent of the available space. Cambridge Square hosts nine large-scale events around its public square, and offers live music three nights a week from April through October. 9453 Bradmore Lane. Call 423-805-3497.
BY THE NUMBERS
WHO WE ARE
Since Ooltewah is unincorporated, exact growth numbers aren't available. The 37363 ZIP code is large and includes other populous areas. But suffice it to say that the eastern part of the county, including Ooltewah, is one of the fastest-growing areas in Tennessee.
WHERE WE LIVE
Median sales price: $279,000 in 2018; $261,750 in 2017
New listings: 1,121 in 2018; 1,039 in 2017
Closed sales: 869 in 2018; 832 in 2017
Source: Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors annual report
» Property values rose 6% in 2018 and are expected to rise another 4.3% in 2019. A recent search on Zillow showed the lowest list price as $55,000, while the highest was $1.35 million. Zillow puts the median home value at $227,800.
Source: Zillow
OUR SCHOOLS
Ooltewah Elementary (preK-5)
Enrollment: 988
Proficiency (TVAAS): 1/5 overall, 4/5 in language arts, 3/5 in math, 1/5 in science
» About 150 homes and families will be rezoned from Ooltewah Elementary to Snow Hill for the 2019-20 school year as Hamilton County Schools completes an addition to Snow Hill that adds 240 seats to the elementary school. The proposed new district lines significantly increase Snow Hill's zone but attempt to keep feeder patterns intact. The Snow Hill addition will add 12 classrooms, a music room, a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) lab and a multipurpose lab.
Wolftever Creek Elementary (preK-5)
Enrollment: 542
Proficiency (TVAAS): 5/5 overall, 5/5 in language arts, 3/5 in math, 5/5 in science
Wallace A. Smith Elementary (K-5)
Enrollment: 602
Proficiency (TVAAS): 1/5 overall, 3/5 in language arts, 4/5 in math, 1/5 in science
Hunter Middle
Enrollment: 790
Proficiency (TVAAS): 5/5 overall, 5/5 in language arts, 4/5 in math, 5/5 in science
Ooltewah Middle
Enrollment: 746
Proficiency (TVAAS): 5/5 overall, 4/5 in language arts, 3/5 in math, 5/5 in science
» Students here have more hands-on opportunities thanks to one of the 16 Volkswagen eLabs in select schools across the district. Filled with digital fabrication tools, including automated manufacturing equipment, programmable microcomputers, renewable energy kits, 3-D printers, robotics and laser cutters, the labs are staffed by well-versed professionals in an overall effort to supply kids with skills directly relevant to the workforce.
Ooltewah High
Enrollment: 1,556
Proficiency (TVAAS): 1/5 overall, 3/5 in language arts, 1/5 in math, 4/5 in science
Average ACT score: 20.4 composite
» One of only two schools in the district with an International Baccalaureate program, Ooltewah High, along with Signal Mountain Middle/High, is the site of an Institute of International Baccalaureate Studies as part of the district's Future Ready initiative. Launched in 2018, the Institutes partner with the local business community to offer career-themed education through small, targeted learning communities within each high school. OHS is also home to the Institute of Architecture and Engineering Design and the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics.
Source: 2018 State Report Card, HCDE
*The Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System scale runs from 1-5, with 1 denoting the least effective schools/districts and least amount of progress toward the Standard for Academic Growth.
DETAILS
CITY SERVICES
Services depend on where you live. If you pay Chattanooga taxes, services like fire and police are provided by the city of Chattanooga. If you pay Collegedale taxes, all services except fire protection are provided by the city of Collegedale. Fire service for those residents is provided by the volunteer Tri-Community Fire Department. If you only pay Hamilton County taxes, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement and Tri-Community Fire offers emergency fire service.
Sewer service is provided by the Hamilton County Water & Wastewater Treatment Authority for all area residents.
The Chattanooga City Council meets every Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Council Building behind city hall, located at 1000 Lindsay St. The meeting is live-streamed, as are the preceding agenda session and department reports, which start at 3 p.m. View meetings at ustream.tv/channel/chattanooga-council-meeting. View agenda sessions at ustream.tv/channel/city-council-committee-meeting.
The Collegedale City Commission meets every first and third Monday at 6 p.m. A full schedule and agenda of past and upcoming meetings can be found at Collegedaletn.gov.
The County Commission meets the first and third Wednesday of each month at 9:30 a.m. To view agendas and minutes, visit hamiltontn.gov/Commission/meetings.aspx.
GET INVOLVED
The Garden Club of Ooltewah-Collegedale meets the fourth Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the East Room at Collegedale City Hall, 4910 Swinyar Drive.
The Kiwanis Club Foundation of Ooltewah-Collegedale, part of a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time, meets every Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. at Collegedale City Hall, 4910 Swinyar Drive. Visitors welcome.
Another international organization that strives to meet the needs of local communities and the world, the Ooltewah/Collegedale Lions Club meets the first and third Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Garden Plaza of Greenbriar Cove, 4586 Forsythia Way.