Downtown Chattanooga: Adventure and History in the Scenic City

(19 reviews)

Chattanooga, Tennessee audio tour: Downtown Chattanooga: Adventure and History in the Scenic City

This is a 1.5mi walking tour

It takes an average of 75 mins to complete.

Chattanooga, Tennessee

The United States

$9.99

Access all 36 locations offline with the VoiceMap app

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About the Tour

Meander through Chattanooga, the city made famous by Glen Miller’s song about a train, and made notorious by the Indian Removal Act’s ‘Trail of Tears’ and Walter Cronkite’s unfortunate description, “the dirtiest little city in America.” On this dynamic walking tour of Downtown Chattanooga, you’ll hear how concerned citizens, governmental leadership and the loving guidance of a passionate local helped an ugly duckling of a city transform into the beautiful scenic city you see today.

Local guide, author and historian, J.D. Harper takes you through the city, sharing its past and present, from the good and the bad, to the ugly. You’ll learn about Chattanooga’s master builder, R.H. Hunt and his rich architectural footprint, the city’s vast Civil War history, and its seemingly endless list of must-do outdoor activities. Along the way, you’ll hear an urban legend or two, as well as a ghost story.

Highlights include:

Learning how the Battles for Chattanooga set the stage for an ultimate Union victory in the Civil War
Discovering Underground Chattanooga
Getting the scoop on how an Aquarium showed up on the banks of the Tennessee River
Hearing about Jimmy Hoffa’s connection to the city
Weighing in on the Georgia-Tennessee state line dispute
Walking segments of the original ‘Trail of Tears’ route

Come and take a chance on this beauty of a city, currently recognized as “the best mid-sized city to live, work and play” today.

Tour Producer

Southern Escape Tours

1 tour

JD Harper is a local author, historian and guide with Southern Escape Tours (SET).

Southern Escape Tours (SET) is America’s premier southern receptive tour operator and travel planner specializing in domestic and international groups traveling to the American south.

Preview Location

Location 1

Introduction at High Point Gym

Hello! This is JD Harper, a local writer that loves Chattanooga so much, I wrote a young adult novel set in the city amid its rich Civil War history and rock climbing culture titled, Glint. I am excited to be your VoiceMap tour guide today.

Welcome to Chattanooga, aka the ... Hello! This is JD Harper, a local writer that loves Chattanooga so much, I wrote a young adult novel set in the city amid its rich Civil War history and rock climbing culture titled, Glint. I am excited to be your VoiceMap tour guide today.

Welcome to Chattanooga, aka the Scenic City, the city's official nickname, but other unofficial nicknames you'll hear Chattanooga called are: River City, Chatt-town, Nooga and more recently, Gig City because of the city's Gigabyte of high speed fiber optic network. Chattanooga even has its own font known as Chatt type.

You are beginning today's tour here in front of High Point Gym as it highlights one of the biggest outdoor activities Chattanooga is known for: rock-climbing. Chattanooga has been and continues to be known for its beauty, it ain't called the Scenic City for nothing, and ease of accessibility to so many outdoor adventures, other than rock climbing, including hiking, white water rafting, paddling, mountain biking, hang gliding, paragliding and caving.

To get oriented, face the the street in front of you.

This is Broad Street, and across the way you will see Big River Grille. To your left at the end of Broad Street, the north end, you will see an impressive brick and glass building, this is our world famous Tennessee Aquarium. To your immediate left is Mellow Mushroom Pizzeria, note the colorful bottle caps that decorate its facade, this represents the impact the Chattanooga Coca-Cola Bottling Company has had on the city, more about that later. Please imagine just beyond the aquarium, is the Tennessee River and a place known as Ross's Landing, the birthplace of Chattanooga. More on that later.

Chattanooga has an interesting architectural footprint. On this tour you will primarily see buildings designed by the man dubbed "Chattanooga's architect," RH Hunt. Please take a look across the street at the building which houses Big River Grille. Notice anything interesting about it? Taking a look at the roofline, you will notice, first, it's kinda high for a one story building and second, it has 4 pointed like arches. This building was designed by RH Hunt in 1906 and was originally a 15 track street car barn and storage facility. At one point, the main mode of public transit in the Scenic City was the street car. The raised roofline was a functional feature not a decorative one as the roof had to be high enough for the street cars to enter. By 1947, the street cars were beginning to disappear from Chattanooga as buses took over the public transit scene.

Now for a few helpful hints to make this a most pleasurable self guided walking tour: Chattanooga has a bike lane, so if you step off of the sidewalk to take in a greater view of the buildings, check for oncoming bike traffic before doing so. Although Chattanooga is an easily walkable city, there are areas of uneven sidewalk and a rogue brick edger here and there that can pose a tripping hazard.

Before we get going, let me briefly explain how VoiceMap works.

It uses your location to play audio automatically, at the right time and place. This means that you can put your phone away now. Don't worry if I'm silent for a while, when I'm not giving directions or telling stories. There's a map on your screen if you ever feel lost, and if you do get way off track without noticing, VoiceMap will let you know.

OK, ready to start strolling the Scenic City?

Good. With your back to the High Point Gym, turn right and start walking down Broad Street.

As you walk, notice the brick building to your left, adjacent to Big River Grille, it looks pretty old, doesn't it? There's a reason for that, this building was built in 1886 originally as horse stables and has seen continuous service as a storage and repair facility for Chattanooga's public transportation system. This building has remained virtually unchanged in its 100+ year existence with only a few window and door openings having been altered. In addition to currently housing some public transportation offices, it now includes the Sports Barn, a private fitness center, a spa and PT clinic.

Keep going to the corner. Read More

View locations and route

How VoiceMap Works

Focus on your surroundings, not the screen

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Follow a route with turn-by-turn-directions

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a fixed starting point. That lets us give turn-by-turn directions and use context to tell a better story.

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Major Landmarks

Tennessee Aquarium
Mellow Mushroom Chattanooga
Moon®Pie General Store
Tivoli Theatre
The Read House
Lookout Mountain
Tennessee Riverwalk
Ross's Landing
Chief John Ross Bridge

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
219 Broad St, Chattanooga, TN 37402, USA
Total distance

2km
Final location
205 Broad St, Chattanooga, TN 37402, USA
Distance back to start location

93.44m

Directions to Starting Point

This tour begins on the sidewalk in front of High Point Gym located at 219 Broad Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. There is a multi-level parking garage attached to the building that houses the gym. If that lot is full or you prefer not to use a garage, try on street parking: some are actual metered spots, others are via pay at a kiosk, but both metes and kiosk work with the ParkMobile app.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

Lots of fun places to eat, get a drink or tasty treat. At Big River Grille you can check off all those boxes, Lupi's Pizzeria has to die for gourmet pizzas and the freshest salads; in fact, it's the inspiration for the pizzeria in JD Harper's book, GLINT, which takes place in Chattanooga. The bar at the Read House is the place to go if you just want a drink and feel like you are in the roaring '20's again as the bartenders wear bowties, vest and bowler hats while the servers wear flapper dresses, headbands and long pearl necklaces.

Best time of day

Anytime is a good time for this tour, but if you want to see the surrounding natural features of the mountains, ridges and Tennessee River, it is best to take the tour between dawn and dusk.

Precautions

This tour has significant sections where there is no shade, so pack some shades, sunscreen, a hat or an umbrella to keep cool in the summer months. In the Spring and Fall add a light jacket or sweater to the hat and shades and for the winter, a coat and a scarf, Chattanooga can have some wickedly cold wind especially near the river.

Chattanooga is a pedestrian friendly town with wide sidewalks, but some are a bit disheveled with large cracks, exposed tree roots and uneven sections along with a rogue brick edger here and there that can pose a tripping hazard so watch your steps, carefully.

You may experience panhandlers. Most are friendly, but some have been known to be aggressive. Best thing to do here is just keep walking.

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“This app has become my go-to app for audio tours. I pretty much use it for every trip and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend VoiceMap for travelers to truly experience cities.”

App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”

Google Play Store

Questions and Reviews

4.5 / 5

19 Ratings

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Downtown Chattanooga: Adventure and History in the Scenic City

About the Tour

Tour Producer

Southern Escape Tours

Preview Location

Location 1

Introduction at High Point Gym

How VoiceMap Works

Major Landmarks

Tennessee Aquarium

Mellow Mushroom Chattanooga

Moon®Pie General Store

Tivoli Theatre

The Read House

Lookout Mountain

Tennessee Riverwalk

Ross's Landing

Chief John Ross Bridge