While you may be familiar with our Aquarium and our Choo Choo, here are a few more interesting facts about the South's Scenic City.
DEMOGRAPHICS
- Chattanooga is the 4th largest city in Tennessee.
- The population of the city of Chattanooga is 155,582.
- The population of Hamilton County is 311,178.
- The population of the Chattanooga Metropolitan Statistical Area is 471,511.
- Chattanooga is located within a day's drive of one third of the population of the US.
- Chattanooga (Hamilton County) is located in the Eastern Time Zone. Counties to the west are located in the Central Time Zone. Major cities west of Chattanooga operating on Central Time include Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama, and Nashville, Tennessee.
- Altitude above sea level: Chattanooga, 675 feet; Missionary Ridge, 1,128 feet; Signal Mountain, 1,800 feet; Lookout Mountain, 2,391 feet.
WEATHER
- According to the National Weather Climatic Data Center, "Chattanooga is a moderate climate, characterized by cool winters and quite warm summers."
-
Monthly Average Temperatures are as follows:
| January |
37.7 |
|
July |
79.5 |
| February |
47.8 |
|
August |
78.8 |
| March |
48.5 |
|
September |
71.7 |
| April |
63.4 |
|
October |
59.1 |
| May |
69.5 |
|
November |
56.1 |
| June |
74.7 |
|
December |
47.8 |
| Average Yearly — 60.5 |
| Source: The National Climatic Data Center |
ECONOMY
-
Chattanooga's main industry is service, with 34.2% of the employment in that sector. Employment industries are listed as follows:
| Services |
|
34.2% |
| Manufacturing |
|
17.6% |
| Retail Trade |
|
15.3% |
| Finance/Insurance/Real Estate |
|
9.1% |
| Transportation and Public Utilities |
|
9.0% |
| Public Administration |
|
5.2% |
| Construction |
|
4.7% |
| Wholesale Trade |
|
4.1% |
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing |
|
0.6% |
| Mining |
|
0.1% |
| Nonclassified Establishments |
|
0.1% |
TRANSPORTATION
- Chattanooga sits at the intersection of Interstates 75, 24, and 59.
- The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (423/855-2200) serves the area with the following airlines: US Airways Express Comair Northwest Airlink American Eagle Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA)
- The Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) provides regularly scheduled bus transportation for the area. CARTA also provides an electric shuttle system that operates downtown between the Chattanooga Choo Choo/Holiday Inn at Shuttle Park South and the Tennessee Aquarium at Shuttle Park North.
- Greyhound/Trailways Bus Lines — 423/892-1277.
GOVERNMENT
- Mayor of Chattanooga: Ron Littlefield
- Hamilton County Executive/County Mayor: Claude Ramsey
- Governor of Tennessee: Phil Bredesen
- Chattanooga is run by a council-mayor form of government, similar to Hamilton County's commission-executive operation.
EDUCATION
CLAIMS TO FAME
- Chattanooga has the world's longest pedestrian bridge—The Walnut Street Bridge.
- Chattanooga has the nation's first and largest military park—Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.
- Chattanooga has the world's steepest passenger railway line—The Lookout Mountain Incline Railway.
- Chattanooga has the world's largest freshwater aquarium—The Tennessee Aquarium.
- Chattanooga has the South's largest collection of American art—The Hunter Museum of Art.
- The Glenn Miller Orchestra won the first gold record awarded by the music industry for a song about Chattanooga—The Chattanooga Choo Choo.
- The world's first franchised Coca-Cola bottling plant was built in Chattanooga by two local attorneys who bought the franchise bottling rights for $1 each.
- More than 300 kinds of trees and 900 varieties of wildflowers grow in the Chattanooga area, more than anywhere on earth, except central China.
- Miniature golf was invented in 1926 on Lookout Mountain by Rock City Gardens founder Garnet Carter.
- The Chattanooga Choo Choo/Holiday Inn's lobby, a former railroad terminal, contains the largest freestanding brick dome in the world. The interior height of the dome is 85 feet.
- A Chattanooga manufacturer was the first commercial maker of nylon hose in the 1939—Davenport Hosiery Mills.
- Chattanooga has Tennessee's largest mall—Hamilton Place.
- The Lookout Mountain Flight Park and Training School graduates more pilots annually than any other school in the world.
- The highest overland bungee cord jump in the world is at Chattanooga's High Adventure Sports. They also hold the record for the oldest person to ever take a jump.
- The deepest commercial caverns in the United States are located on Lookout Mountain and are over 1,000 feet underground—Ruby Falls.
General information on Tennessee, the 16th state:
- Admission to Statehood: June 1, 1796
-
Area: 42146 sq. miles
Land: 41,220 sq. miles
Water: 926 sq. miles
- Bird: Mockingbird
- Capital: Nashville
- Flag: three stars on the flag represent the three different land forms in Tennessee. Mountains in the east, highlands in the middle and lowlands in the west. On the flag these regions are bound together in an unbroken circle. The field is crimson with a blue background for the stars. The final blue strip relieves the sameness of the crimson field and prevents the flag from showing too much crimson when it is limp.
- Flower: Iris
- Governor: Phil Bredesen (D)
- Nickname: Volunteer State
-
Songs:
The Tennessee Waltz
Tennessee, My Homeland
Tennessee
When It's Iris Time in Tennessee
My Tennessee
Rocky Top
- Tree:Tulip Poplar