Past Mayors

Birth & Death: 1790–1879

The State of Tennessee granted the charter for the formation of the City of Chattanooga in 1839. That charter mandated that seven aldermen be elected and that they vote among themselves to elect a mayor. James Berry was one of the seven aldermen elected by the men of Chattanooga in December 1839. The seven aldermen met for the first time on the first Monday of January 1840 and elected Berry as the new city’s first mayor. Mayor Berry served for one year, as the city charter dictated. Little is known about Mayor Berry’s term in office, but as the city was only recently opened for white settlement, all aspects of developing a town on the frontier must have been dealt with.

Before arriving in Chattanooga, Berry served as postmaster in Maryville, Tennessee, where he married Rebecca McChesney in 1818. Mayor Berry and his wife were founding members of the Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, and when she died in 1841, Rebecca Berry was one of the first citizens buried in the Citizens Cemetery. (Citizens Cemetery, the city’s oldest cemetery, is located between Third Street and the UTC campus.)

Birth & Death: 1812–1886

A native of Greeneville, Tennessee, Dr. Beriah Frazier received his medical training in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1840.

Dr. Beriah Frazier set up his medical practice in Hamilton County, first practicing near Harrison. There he met Cynthia Mynatt, whose twin brother, J.C. Mynatt, was the clerk and master. Dr. Frazier and Cynthia Mynatt were married at Knoxville in 1841. He is said to be the only Chattanooga mayor to have married during his term in office.

Dr. Frazier was an elder in the city's Presbyterian Church and he was junior warden of Chattanooga's first Masonic lodge. But he decided to move to Knoxville, and he was living there at a farm on Beaver Creek at the time of the Civil War.

Dr. Frazier was a delegate from Knox County to the East Tennessee Union Convention that met in Knoxville in May of 1861. Just after the war, the Unionist was a state senator from Knox County. He was later a trustee of East Tennessee University (University of Tennessee) and was president of the Tazewell Pike Company.

Dr. Frazier had partially completed a history of the Civil War at the time of his death in 1886. Cynthia Mynatt Frazier died in 1880. Dr. Frazier had no children.

Birth & Death: 1807–1869

Dr. Milo Smith was a beloved physician in Chattanooga's early days, and he was the city's mayor in three different decades.

He was born in 1807, the son of William Smith, who came from Massachusetts to teach school in frontier Tennessee.

Dr. Smith's mother was Elizabeth Cozby, daughter of the famous East Tennessee physician and Indian fighter, Dr. James Cozby. His father, William Smith went from Knoxville to Washington in Rhea County in 1812. He founded Smith's Crossroads (Dayton) after purchasing 60 acres there in 1820.

Dr. Milo Smith studied medicine at the Philadelphia Medical School in Pennsylvania. He had “a great deal of information on almost every subject pertaining to matters Biblical and historical, but especially physics”.

Milo Smith had come down river from Rhea County to the new Ross's Landing settlement where his sister, Eliza, had moved with her husband, John P. Long. From the commissioners who had laid out and were selling off Chattanooga lots, he purchased lot 38 on Poplar Street for $220 in 1840.

He sold this lot and built on lot 42 nearby. At the time of the Indian removal, both Dr. Smith and his father worked with the government. William Smith relocated to Rawlingsville, Ala., in this capacity. Dr. Smith made several trips between Ross's Landing and the Indian Territory with the Cherokees.

Milo Smith married Caroline Lipscomb, who was from Grainger County, Tenn., and was the daughter of Spotswood and Elizabeth Smith Pendleton Lipscomb. Their son, William Spotswood Smith, graduated from medical school at Nashville. He entered Confederate service and was on the medical staff of Dr. Samuel H. Stout.

Dr. Milo Smith's daughter, Elizabeth Nisbet Smith, was the first white child born in Chattanooga after it was named – her birth being Christmas Day 1838. She married Andrew Mitchell Macmurphy of Augusta, Ga., in 1859. Macmurphy's sister was the wife of another Chattanooga mayor, Charles Grenville.

Dr. Smith was one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church at Chattanooga. He was also the leading medical practice, but he seemed almost unconcerned about whether or not he was paid. It was said by old citizens that Mayor Dr. Milo Smith waited upon the entire city of Chattanooga without charge and that, in a sense, established the first free clinic in the city. It is said that he never sent a bill to anyone. His clients paid when they pleased, if at all.

He seems to have been, without exception, the most popular citizen in Chattanooga’s early life and Dr. Smith was so well liked by the community that several babies were named in his honor.

Dr. Milo Smith served his first term as Mayor in 1842 and was re–elected in 1843, making him the first mayor to serve two terms.

The Milo Smiths remained in Chattanooga throughout much of the war between the States at their brick home on Cameron Hill on the east side of Poplar Street between Fifth and Sixth streets. Dr. Smith served as mayor again in 1862 and 1863, until his office was abrogated by Military Occupation.

He treated many wounded soldiers from both armies in the war–torn city. Caroline Smith took care of a baby who had lost its mother when only six weeks old and whose father was one of the artillerymen under the duty of firing shells into Chattanooga. Dr. Smith early in 1864 “felt it necessary to leave Chattanooga.” His home on Poplar Street was sold to John G. Glass. The Milo Smiths returned after the war and Dr. Smith had a drug store with John Bailey Nicklin at Fifth and Market.

Mayor Dr. Milo Smith was elected Mayor seven times, more often than any other of Chattanooga’s chief executives; but, as his terms were limited to one year each. He did not serve as many years as some of the later Mayors.

Milo Smith died in 1869 and his wife Caroline Lipscomb Smith died in Memphis in 1878.

Birth & Death: 1821–1896

Born in Rhea County on March 18, 1821, Joseph Strong Gillespie grew up the youngest of ten brothers and educated by a private tutor who lived on his family’s large plantation in Rhea County.

Upon completing his studies at Louisville Medical College in Louisville, Kentucky, Dr. Gillespie moved to Chattanooga to practice medicine with Dr. Milo Smith. Dr. Gillespie followed his medical partner in becoming a leading citizen of Chattanooga and serving two terms as mayor.

In 1848, he married Penelope Whiteside, daughter of Col. James A, Whiteside.

Dr. Gillespie had suffered a severe fall while sleepwalking and was unable to fight in the Civil War. However, the Chattanooga surgeon was loyal to the Southern cause. He was so outspoken for the Confederacy that he was arrested and imprisoned by the Federal Army during Military Occupation He was paroled, when three physicians in Chattanooga, Dr. Gillespie, Dr. Milo Smith and Dr. P.D. Sims were permitted to attend the wounded and dying Confederate soldiers, after the battle of Missionary Ridge.

Dr. and Mrs. Gillespie resided at their farm “Canachee” east of Missionary Ridge after the war.

Dr. Gillespie was Mayor for two terms, 1844 and 1845.

Birth & Death: 1807–?

Born in Wrightsboro, Georgia 1807, he married Rebecca Lowe in 1832. She was descended from a prominent Virginia family. The Massengales moved to Chattanooga in 1850 when he was 43 years of age. He built a brick house south of town. The house was later purchased by John A. Lee when the Massengale family moved to a farm by Chickamauga Creek in Walker County, Georgia where they operated a 500–acre vineyard of Catawba grapes. He constructed a large wine cellar and produced 1,500 gallons of wine every year. The family also had a summer residence on Lookout Mountain. The family lost their large estates during the Civil War.

Little is known about Henry White Massengale, other than he owned a business in town and he was exempt from war services, but he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Southern Cause. He gave $60,000 in gold for Confederate bonds at the first offering. Three of his sons, Henry White Massengale, Thomas Massengale, and George Pierce Massengale served with Confederate forces. His daughter, Laura Massengale, a quick and witty young lady had become a belle among the Confederate army. She stood on the upper gallery of the Central Hotel located at 5th Street and Market Street and gave the presentation speech to the company organized by William Ragsdale that marched away to war. It is noted that her speech and delivery were remarkable.

Mayor Henry White Massengale was a leader in the Methodist Church and the Masons. He helped erect the Masonic Academy for female students, and he was also involved in banking, building, and warehousing.

Birth & Death: 1801–1850

Mayor Thomas Crutchfield circa 1849(Lived 1801–1850) Thomas Crutchfield and his family moved to Chattanooga in the early 1830s, just as the Cherokees were being removed. As the town of Chattanooga was established, Crutchfield helped survey and clear the streets.

Crutchfield and his brother–in–law established a brick kiln near the river and built Chattanooga’s first brick homes for James Whiteside and Dr. Milo Smith.

A strong businessman, Crutchfield built one of Chattanooga’s first hotels near his home along Ninth Street. The large wooden Crutchfield Hotel played a significant role in the history of Chattanooga, often serving as a meeting place for civic leaders, political rallies, and a general gathering place.

Crutchfield was extremely interested in the Western and Atlantic railroad being built by the State of Georgia and worked with officials to assure that Chattanooga would be the northern terminus of the rail line. Unfortunately, Crutchfield did not live to see the rail line or depot completed as he died while on a trip to Nashville in 1850. His hotel passed to his son, Thomas Crutchfield, Jr.

Birth & Death: 1807–1869

Reelected for a third term in January 1850, Mayor Smith led the board of aldermen in applying for a new charter for Chattanooga. The petition to the Tennessee State Legislature asked that Chattanooga be designated a city rather than a town. Granted in November 1849, the new charter also changed the way that the city government was selected. The new charter mandated that eight aldermen and a mayor be elected on the last Thursday in December of each year. So, in December 1850, Dr. Smith became the first mayor elected by popular vote.

Five months into Mayor Smith’s fourth term, one of the most influential events in Chattanooga history occurred when a Western and Atlantic Railway train passed the Missionary Ridge tunnel and entered Chattanooga. This first train arriving on May 9, 1851, marked Chattanooga’s emergence as a significant southern city and promised great growth.

Realizing that Chattanooga was quickly becoming linked to all areas of the south except for Alabama, the leadership of the city urged the states of Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia to construct a railroad from Chattanooga south into Alabama. Mayor Smith and the Board of Aldermen believed so strongly in this plan that in 1852 they dedicated $100,000 of the city’s money to purchasing stock in the proposed Wills Valley Railroad, an action that would eventually have a negative impact on the young city’s financial situation.

Birth & Death: 1809–?

Henry Massengale served as mayor until 1853. He later returned for a fourth term in 1854 before moving to a large farm in Walker County, Georgia.

Birth & Death: 1810–1894

William Williams and his brother opened the Bank of Chattanooga, the city’s first bank, in 1853. That December, the citizenry of Chattanooga elected Williams as mayor.

Taking office in January 1854, Mayor Williams only served until July 1, 1854, at which time he resigned his duties. Williams did not leave public service however, for as soon as Alderman William Ragsdale was elected to serve as Mayor, Williams accepted an appointment to complete Ragsdale’s alderman term. During Mayor Williams’ term, the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad completed its line into the city.

In 1858, due to illness, Williams retired from the Bank of Chattanooga and moved to Nashville.

William Ragsdale became Mayor when William Williams resigned the position on July 1, 1854. Having served as Chattanooga’s postmaster from 1850 to 1852, at the time of his appointment, Ragsdale served as an officer of the Bank of Chattanooga.

When the War Between the States broke out in 1861, Ragsdale raised Co. "A". "The Lookout Rangers." Men from Hamilton County. Organized June 15, 1861; accepted into Confederate service at Knoxville, August 1, 1861. Became Company "H", 2nd Regiment.

Following the Civil War, Ragsdale returned to Chattanooga and remained in the city until his death.

Eldridge Pearl, officer of the Chattanooga branch of the Union Bank of East Tennessee, became mayor in 1855. Little is known about Pearl other than he was originally from New York and returned to New York soon after his term as mayor of Chattanooga.

Birth & Death: April 11, 1815–November 26, 1897

In 1838, David McMillin moved to Chattanooga just as the town was established. McMillin and his brother, Johnathan, opened a dry goods store on Market Street. McMillin served as alderman in 1852 before being elected Mayor in 1856. McMillin remained in Chattanooga, helping establish the City National Bank in 1870.

Birth & Death: November 17, 1820–November 15, 1882

Born in Georgia in 1820, William Fulton entered the army in 1847 and served as a captain in the Mexican War before moving to Chattanooga in 1852. Although he had practiced as an attorney in Georgia prior to his service in the Mexican War, Fulton did not practice law in Chattanooga.

In 1853, he became cashier of the Bank of Chattanooga, a position he held until the bank’s closing in 1863.

Fulton assisted in creating Chattanooga’s first utility company, the Chattanooga Water Works Company, in 1856. During his term of office, the Memphis & Charleston Railroad completed its route and linked Chattanooga to the eastern seaboard.

When the Bank of Chattanooga closed in 1863 due to the Union Army’s occupation of Chattanooga, Fulton moved to Nashville where he lived the remainder of his life.

Birth & Death: [Birth Year]–1861

Following service in the Mexican War, Dr. William S. Bell made his home in Chattanooga. Bell did not establish a medical practice in Chattanooga; rather, he opened Bell’s Distillery along the western slopes of Cameron Hill. The corn whiskey distillery’s product was shipped throughout the state of Tennessee. One historic report states that Dr. Bell’s plant could produce three hundred gallons of whiskey a day.

Bell served as alderman in 1857 before his election to Mayor in 1858. Continuing the trend of city leaders throughout the 1850s, Mayor Bell and the city board of alderman worked to enlarge Chattanooga’s place as a southern rail hub. In 1858, the East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railroad completed its route into the city. The Mayor and alderman also completed details with the Western & Atlantic and the Nashville & Chattanooga railroad companies to build a depot in the city. The city donated land along Ninth Street, across from the Crutchfield Hotel, for construction of the Union Depot.

When the Civil War erupted, former Mayor Bell volunteered for service and was assigned to a Confederate medical division. While stationed in Memphis, Bell died from injuries received from a cannonball strike.

Birth & Death: 1830–1886

Upon his father’s death in 1850, Thomas Crutchfield, Jr. took over the operation of Chattanooga’s largest hotel, the Crutchfield House. Mayor Crutchfield became mayor at a time when Chattanooga faced tough financial times. The city’s investment in so many railroad projects and officials' refusal to levy taxes against its citizens had drained the city’s coffers throughout the mid–1850s. Though 1859 saw the completion of the Union Depot, the city’s financial future looked dim, forcing the Mayor and alderman to secure a $50,000 loan from a New York bank. The terms of the loan pledged the “property and faith of the city” for security.

In the late winter of 1861, as the country approached the Civil War, Thomas Crutchfield sold his hotel. Following the Civil War, Crutchfield opened a general merchandise store along Market Street. Unlike other southern businessmen, Thomas Crutchfield maintained enough capital following the Civil War that he was able to become a shareholder in the First National Bank when it incorporated in Chattanooga in the fall of 1865.

Birth & Death: 1819–1880

Mayor Charles Erskine Grenville was born in Augusta, Georgia on July 10, 1819 and died in Charleston, South Carolina on March 30, 1880.

He moved to Chattanooga in 1850 and established Grenville Flour Mill, located along Chestnut Street near the intersection of Ninth Street, at the back of the present–day Read House. Grenville’s mill was one of Chattanooga’s largest industries prior to the Civil War.

He had faith in Chattanooga and accumulated a considerable amount of property, but lost his fortune during the American Civil War. Grenville Flour Mill was destroyed during the War, and it is said that it frequently served as a target when Chattanooga was shelled by Union forces. All of his properties were virtually destroyed.

Mayor Grenville married on February 27, 1851, to Margaret MacMurphey, daughter of a pioneer settler of Augusta, Georgia. They had three children, only one survived, Mrs. Mary Grenville Mullings of Atlanta, Georgia.

Birth & Death: 1830–1895

Born in Gallatin, Tennessee, James Cartwright Warner worked for a hardware store in Nashville before moving to Chattanooga in 1853 to open his own hardware store. Warner became an officer of the Bank of Chattanooga, and a leader in the development of the Wills Valley Railroad.

Mayor Warner’s term in office was one of great trial for Chattanoogans, as the nation was on the brink of war. Soon after Warner took office, future Confederate President Jefferson Davis visited Chattanooga on his way from Washington to Mississippi, the state took its first vote on the issue of secession and the city began planning for what seemed to be an impending crisis. In April, the mayor and aldermen oversaw the establishment of an armory and “Home Guard” unit. Worried about the effect northern sympathizers might have on the city, the mayor also ordered the organization of a “Vigilance Committee” to watch for persons hostile to secession.

On June 8, 1861, the state of Tennessee voted to secede from the United States of America and join the Confederate States of America. Though Hamilton County voters overwhelmingly voted to remain loyal to the Union, Chattanoogans voted 421 to 51 to secede.

After his term of service, Warner became president of the Bank of Chattanooga. When the bank closed in 1863, Warner moved his family to Nashville where he remained until his death in 1895.

Birth & Death: 1807–1869

Dr. Milo Smith served his sixth and seventh terms as mayor during a time of great turmoil, with the country involved in the Civil War. During his term, the city became a refuge for many as other southern cities began to fall. The great unrest within the nation did not spare Chattanooga, as during the summer of 1862, the city became the headquarters for the Confederate Army’s hospital corps. On June 7, the city fell under attack from the Union army for the first time.

By June 1863, as he abandoned middle Tennessee, Confederate General Braxton Bragg began amassing his troops in Chattanooga. On September 8, 1863, General Bragg and his army withdrew from Chattanooga and the Union army entered. A state of martial law was enforced and Mayor Smith’s final term of service ended.

Birth & Death: 1815–1878

Originally from Warren County, Richard Henderson purchased land in Chattanooga on June 15, 1840, and immediately set up a law office. Henderson did not support secession, and throughout the Union army’s occupation of Chattanooga, Henderson worked with military commanders as needed.

As the Union army began returning Chattanooga to its citizens, military officials ordered an election to be held on October 7, 1865. No citizens who had sympathized or helped the Confederate government were allowed to vote, and only Unionists or those who remained neutral were eligible to serve as mayor or aldermen until January 1, 1866. Mayor Henderson and the aldermen’s task for their short term was to re–draft all city ordinances in order to re–establish the local government. An attorney prior to the Civil War, Henderson’s knowledge of law and the legal system was no doubt helpful as the mayor worked to create all the laws needed for a new city government.

Birth & Death: [Birth Year]–[Death Year]?

In re–establishing the new government, Mayor Henderson and the Board of Aldermen reverted to the pre–war custom of holding the city’s general election on the last Thursday of December. On December 28, 1865, Republican Charles Lewis became the first full–term mayor elected after the Civil War. Like the fall 1865 election, any citizen with known ties to the former Confederate government or sympathizers could not vote. Those elected had either worked with Union military officials or could prove that they had remained neutral throughout the recent war.

Chattanooga, during Lewis’ term of service, not only saw a return of some residents who had been displaced by the war but also saw a large influx of northerners coming south to take advantage of a city working to rebuild.

Birth & Death: [Birth Year] – [Death Year]?

New Yorker Dudley Carr became mayor in 1867, leading a board of aldermen composed of all newcomers to Chattanooga. The election of this Board of Aldermen and Mayor reflected the shift in the makeup of the citizens of Chattanooga, as more and more were either Union veterans or northern carpetbaggers. During this time, to improve the city’s economy, officials advertised in northern publications in the hope that industrialists would move into Chattanooga.

As Mayor Carr was leading Chattanooga through its recovery from the Civil War, the city experienced the greatest flood in its history, with waters reaching 58.6 feet. The early March flood destroyed the only bridge across the Tennessee River and damaged most buildings in town. As floodwaters rose, Mayor Carr ordered food and other supplies to be gathered and taken to the top of Cameron Hill, where many citizens were taking refuge.

In April 1867, city officials conducted the first post–war census of Chattanooga. This census recorded that 3,229 whites and 2,550 blacks lived within the city limits.

Reelected in December 1867 for the 1868 term, Mayor Carr worked throughout 1868 to have the city appropriate $100,000 to the Tennessee River Improvement Commission in hopes of determining a way to protect the city from other floods.

Birth & Death: 1841–1913

Born in New York, Alonzo Sharp moved to Ohio at the age of six. In 1861, Sharp joined the Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving with the Union Army as a captain until forced to resign due to ill health in 1864. Sharp moved to Chattanooga in 1865 and became city treasurer in 1867. After two years as city treasurer, Sharp was elected Mayor.

To try to relieve the poor economy of the city, Mayor Sharp and the Board of Aldermen issued a municipal script and mandated that all city offices accept the script for payments. The ordinance, which also allowed city taxes to be paid with the Chattanooga script, began a downward economic spiral that would take the city years to recover from.

Birth & Death: 1822–1884

William Rathburn and a group of other capitalists from Ohio arrived in Chattanooga in the summer of 1865. Rathburn and others received a charter for the First National Bank in September 1865 and opened it immediately. Rathburn served as president of the bank until 1884. Fellow Ohioan John T. Wilder may have influenced Rathburn’s move to Chattanooga, as Rathburn had formed a business partnership with Wilder.

Just four years after arriving in the city, Rathburn won the popular vote in the mayoral election and took office in January 1870. During his term, the city of Chattanooga received a new city charter that mandated that all municipal elections be held on the third Thursday of November each year. As a result, his term in 1870 was cut short; however, he won re–election for a second term.

Following his terms in office, Rathburn continued to work closely with city officials, as he worked to ensure that the Cincinnati Southern Railroad would build its line through Chattanooga. Rathburn’s work with the Cincinnati Southern led the railroad to name a northern Hamilton County depot in his honor. Today, the area that once was called Rathburn is in the vicinity of Soddy Daisy.

Birth & Death: 1830–1917

General John T. Wilder’s first introduction to Chattanooga occurred on August 21, 1863, when he led a Union Army expedition onto Stringer’s Ridge and shelled the city during the Civil War. He returned to participate in the Battle of Chickamauga and the Battles for Chattanooga. After the Civil War, he returned to Chattanooga to begin the Roan Iron Works.

A civic and business leader in his adopted city, John Wilder became Mayor in November 1871. The largest employer in Chattanooga, Wilder’s Roan Iron Works owned land throughout eastern Tennessee, and he traveled extensively outside of the city. During the first six months that he held office, Mayor Wilder attended only one Board of Aldermen meeting, leading him to resign his office on May 18, 1872.

Birth & Death: 1820–May 18, 1883

Born in Cocke County, Tennessee, Josiah Bryan moved to Chattanooga in 1848. Mayor Bryan oversaw an expansion of city government with new offices occupied in the VanDeman Building on the corner of Eighth and Market Streets. In trying to promote Chattanooga for travelers, Mayor Bryan and the Board of Aldermen passed a resolution inviting United States President U. S. Grant and his cabinet to spend a portion of the summer on Lookout Mountain. The resolution included an expenditure of $500 to help defray the cost of the President and his cabinet.

Mayor Bryan also oversaw significant public works in the further attempt to improve the streets of Chattanooga. To aid the city with financial issues, the mayor and alderman issued $30,000 in city script.

Birth & Death: May 4, 1841–January 6, 1881

Born in Dechard, Maine in 1841, Eli Wight joined the Union Army at the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. Trained as a surgeon, Dr. Wight arrived in occupied Chattanooga in 1864. Though serving in the Union Hospital in Chattanooga, Dr. Wight also saw civilian patients. He mustered out of the Union Army in 1866 and remained in Chattanooga to practice medicine.

As mayor, Dr. Wight focused on reducing the operating expenses of the town government. He reduced the police force, laid off the city engineer during the winter months, and even closed the Public Works department temporarily, urging citizens to pay taxes promptly.

Birth & Death: October 22, 1828–November 8, 1920

Philander Sims completed medical school at the University of Nashville in 1856 and immediately moved to Chattanooga to begin a medical practice. Dr. Sims is noted in many historical accounts for rendering great service to wounded soldiers, both Union and Confederate, following the Battles for Chattanooga. Throughout the war, Dr. Sims’s office building on Market Street served as the Union Army’s Provost Marshal's office.

In the first election in which Confederate Veterans were allowed to vote, long–time Chattanooga doctor Philander Sims won the mayoral race. Dr. Sims took the oath of office on November 24, 1873, and took charge of a city facing a financial crisis. Mayor Sims appointed a finance committee to examine the city’s financial situation and propose actions to improve the city’s position. The committee recommended drastically cutting spending and maintaining the city on no more than $2500 a month. Although this plan was not adopted, the Mayor and Board of Aldermen resolved to be more diligent in tax collection. However, they did not seem to worry about the city’s weak finances for long, as they spent $26,714 on street repairs and left the city with a $21,400 deficit.

Mayor Sims returned to medical practice and was involved in the care of the residents during the yellow fever epidemic of 1878.

Birth & Death: January 31, 1839–February 21, 1898

Born in Sullivan County, Tennessee, John James moved with his family to Chattanooga in 1856. At the outbreak of the Civil War, James joined the Union Army and served in the Quartermaster’s Department. He returned to Chattanooga following the war.

When James became mayor on November 23, 1874, he inherited a city in financial collapse. He resolved tax code issues, forcing industries to pay taxes, and managed the aftermath of Chattanooga’s second major flood since the Civil War. He also helped christen the city’s first streetcar on September 4, 1875.

Birth & Death: April 26, 1839 – December 14, 1910

Born in Milledgeville, Georgia, Tomlinson Fort graduated from Oglethorpe University in 1857 and moved to Savannah, Georgia, to practice law. He returned to his hometown in 1859 to care for his father’s estate and served in the Georgia militia during the Civil War.

Fort moved to Chattanooga in 1865 and quickly became a leading businessman. He served as city attorney, city recorder, and on the Board of Public Works before being elected Mayor in 1876. His term marked a turning point as he improved the city's financial status. Fort abolished city–produced script, encouraged tax advances, and promoted public education, even securing a loan using his personal credit.

Birth & Death: 1841–1885

Elected to a second term as Mayor in 1876, Wight’s inaugural address to Chattanooga consisted of a list of reforms he hoped for the city to make. Most important to Wight was to set Chattanooga on a course of more fiscal responsibility. Wight advocated collecting taxes in cash so that the city could immediately use the money.

Wight also suggested an extension of the term for the mayor and alderman, so that the city could function continuously for more than one year. Following his second term, Mayor Wight ran an unsuccessful campaign for Governor of Tennessee in 1878, and so returned to his medicine practice. Dr. Wight is one of the doctors of Chattanooga that risked their lives in working with the yellow fever victims in Chattanooga through the late summer and fall of 1878.

Birth & Death: 1832–1878

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Thomas Carlile joined the Union Army in 1861. Carlile fought in the Battle of Chickamauga before being transferred to the Quartermaster’s Department in Chattanooga. Carlile served the remainder of the war in Chattanooga and after mustering out in 1865 he remained in the city.

Elected mayor in 1877, Carlile took the reins of the city as it entered its brightest time since the Civil War. The administrations of Mayors Fort and Wight had improved the city’s finances and set the city on a course of prosperity. However, another threat of great devastation was about to hit the city. As other cities across the south began reporting outbreaks of yellow fever or malaria, Chattanooga began to take actions. On July 9, 1878, the mayor asked the board of alderman to pass a law restricting wildlife from roaming the streets and asked that money be appropriated to clean the sewers. On August 24, at a specially called meeting, Mayor Carlile asked for funds to create a Citizens’ Relief Committee to begin working with the refugees flooding the city as the yellow fever epidemic spread across the south.

Due to the yellow fever epidemic becoming so widespread in Chattanooga, the mayor and board of aldermen discontinued their regular meetings. As the city emptied of people trying to escape the spreading illness, Mayor Carlile remained and worked among the sick of the city. Mayor Carlile contracted yellow fever and died in late October. When the board of aldermen reconvened on November 5, it passed a resolution calling Mayor Carlile a hero for his efforts in the face of yellow fever.

Birth & Death: 1844–1929

Born in North Carolina, Andrew Jackson Gahagan withdrew from college in 1862 to enlist in the Federal Army at the age of 17. As a member of the Union army’s First Tennessee Cavalry, Gahagan participated in several major battles, including Chickamauga, Kennesaw Mountain, Franklin and Nashville. Gahagan mustered out of the army on April 15, 1865 and returned to his home in North Carolina, although he did not remain there long. Gahagan rejoined the army, was assigned to the Quartermaster’s department, where he served in Nashville and Atlanta before arriving in Chattanooga in January 1866. In 1867, Gahagan entered private business in Chattanooga. He partnered in a mercantile business for a few years before joining Loomis & Hart, the city’s largest lumber firm. Gahagan served as president of Loomis & Hart for thirty–five years.

It did not take long for Gahagan to establish himself in Chattanooga. In 1874, Gahagan began his first term as alderman, a post he kept for five terms. He became assistant postmaster in 1877, in 1878 served as county treasurer and in October of 1878, after the death of Mayor Carlile, Gahagan was appointed acting mayor. Though he served less than a month, Mayor Gahagan led the city through the end of the yellow fever epidemic that killed 366 people in Chattanooga.

At the end of his term, Mayor Gahagan returned to private business and again served as county treasurer until 1882.

Birth & Death: 1850–1938

Jesse Hill became mayor in November 1878, following a time of great sorrow in Chattanooga as 366 citizens fell victim to yellow fever from August – October, 1878. During the epidemic, Hill served as secretary of the Citizens’ Relief Committee, and in addition to performing clerical duties, he helped with the burial duties of the committee.

A relatively new comer to Chattanooga, only living in the city since 1868, Hill had served as Deputy Clerk and Master of the city’s chancery court.

Birth & Death: 1840–1891

A native of Utica, New York, Henry Frederick Temple moved to Chattanooga in 1874 to take advantage of the growing industrial emphasis in the city. During his inaugural address in November 1879, Mayor Temple reported that the city had a projected income of $31,580 for the year but that expenditures were estimated at $45,381. Mayor Temple’s plans for balancing the city budget included refusing to accept his own salary, reducing the salary of all city employees, and keeping expenditures to a minimum.

Mayor Temple ended his address with this challenge to the Board of Alderman: “Gentlemen, though we may not be able to accomplish all that we could desire, by reason of very limited means at our command, still let every move be in the right direction in the interest of economy, of efficiency, and of progress.”

Finally, on December 11, 1879, the Cincinnati Southern Railroad completed its line into Chattanooga. Mayor Temple presided over a grand reception on April 13, 1880, when a delegation of Ohio legislators and railroad officials arrived in the city to celebrate the completion of the railroad.

Birth & Death: 1845–1891

A native of Illinois who grew up in Ohio, John Hart moved to Montgomery, Alabama in the 1850s. Hart returned to the north to join the Union Army in 1861. Following the Civil War, Hart returned to Montgomery. Elected to the state senate, Hart served as speaker of the senate. While in Alabama, Hart invested in several failed railroad ventures, losing most of his money. Hart moved to Chattanooga in 1869 and began work at the Chattanooga Times. Upon his father’s death, Hart received an inheritance that allowed him to invest in a partnership with John F. Loomis to begin the Loomis & Hart Lumber Company in 1875.

Hart ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1878, before being elected to serve as Mayor for 1881.

Birth & Death: 1843–1921

Henry Clay Evans left his native Pennsylvania in 1864. Shortly after joining the Union Army, he received an assignment as clerk for the United States Army, Quartermaster Corps stationed at Chattanooga. In this position, he served under Major Thomas J. Carlile, chief of the Quartermaster Corps, who would serve as mayor for the city in 1878. After the Civil War, Evans served two years in Texas before returning to Chattanooga in 1870.

Upon his return to Chattanooga, H. Clay Evans quickly became involved in the civic affairs of the city. Evans also became a leading businessman, being involved in some of the city’s early industries including the Chattanooga Car Company, the Roane Iron Works, and the Wasson Car Works.

Evans became an Alderman in 1881, and the following year, became mayor. Evans was elected mayor for 1882 and was re–elected the following fall. During his second term, Mayor Evans worked with a committee from the Iron, Coal, and Manufacturing Association to raise money for a public library. Unfortunately, it took four years before the city opened the library. A change in the city charter changed the time of service for a mayor and aldermen to two years. After being mayor, Evans served three additional terms on the Board of Aldermen.

Evans ran unsuccessfully for the Third District of Tennessee’s Senate seat in 1884 but won the seat four years later. At the end of his service in 1891, Evans returned to Chattanooga. In 1894, Evans ran for Governor of Tennessee. Initially, it seemed that he had been elected, however, his opponent contested the vote and eventually won the governorship. Evans again returned to Chattanooga. Between 1894 and 1905, Evans received appointments from three Presidents. President Harding appointed him First Assistant Postmaster General of the United States, President William McKinley appointed him Commissioner of Pensions, and President Roosevelt appointed him Consul General in England.

Evans returned to Chattanooga in 1905. In 1911, when the city’s form of government changed from a Board of Aldermen to a commission, Evans won a commission seat. Evans served as Commissioner of Education and led the city to make great strides in improving the quality of public education. In 1928, a new elementary school on Popular Street was christened the H. Clay Evans School, in the former mayor’s honor.

Birth & Death: 1854–1896

Hugh Whiteside, son of James Whiteside, one of Chattanooga’s business leaders in the 1850s, graduated from the University of the South in 1879. He entered St. Louis Law College, and upon graduation, returned to Chattanooga to practice. Just two years after returning the Chattanooga, Whiteside became the first person born in Chattanooga to be elected mayor. Mayor Whiteside also became the first mayor to serve a two–year term, as a change in the city charter in 1883 mandated that, beginning with the November 1883 election, all mayors serve a two–year term running November to November.

Mayor Whiteside did not seek reelection, instead choosing to run for county judge in 1885. Winning the election, Whiteside served as county judge until his death in 1896.

Birth & Death: [Birth Year] – [Death Year]?

Following his first term as Mayor in 1869, Alonzo Sharp served two terms as city recorder, one term as city attorney, and in 1873, became the U.S. Collector of Revenue in Chattanooga, a position he held for two years. In 1878, United States Postmaster General and former Chattanoogan, David Key appointed Sharp as a postal inspector, assigning him to a district in California for four years. In 1883, Sharp was offered the opportunity to return to Chattanooga as Chief Postal Inspector. Sharp accepted the position and returned to the city, where after just two years back in Chattanooga, he again served as mayor.

In 1890, Sharp became Post Office Inspector General over a southern region including Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina.

Alonzo Sharp died at the age of 73 while at his apartment in Atlanta, he was a special agent for American Bell Telephone.

Birth & Death: 1843–1919

John Bailey Nicklin grew up in Pennsylvania, served in the United States Army throughout the Civil War, and moved to Chattanooga in 1866. Nicklin joined his brother Ben Nicklin in opening a pharmacy in the city. During the yellow fever epidemic of 1878, Nicklin worked closely with the Relief Committee and freely gave aid from his drug store.

After several terms on the Board of Aldermen, Nicklin was elected mayor in 1887. During Mayor Nicklin’s term in office, President and Mrs. Grover Cleveland visited the city, the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce organized, and the Fireman’s Fountain was dedicated to two firemen killed in the line of duty.

Nicklin had a keen interest in baseball, and from 1892 to 1902, he served as President for the Southern Baseball League. Nicklin also served as president of the Chattanooga Baseball League.

Birth & Death: 1845–1891

Following his first term as mayor, Hart sold his interest in the Loomis & Hart Company to serve as president of the Chattanooga Stove Works. Hart also served as vice–president of the Mountain City Fire Department before being elected for a second term as mayor in 1889. During his second term, Mayor Hart led the city in a time of increased prosperity. Also during this term, plans for a bridge across the Tennessee River were completed and the Walnut Bridge was constructed.

During the summer of 1890, Mayor Hart suffered a stroke. He left the city to recuperate in Colorado but returned to the city after missing only one city meeting. Unfortunately, Mayor Hart suffered another stroke on January 15, 1891 and died while still in office at the young age of 47.

Birth & Death: 1838–1919

Born in Syracuse, New York, Isaac Merriman remained there until 1865, at which time he moved to Wisconsin to open a mercantile business. In 1869, he moved to Dexter, Michigan to open a hardware store, and in 1872, he moved to Alabama to begin a hardware business. In 1878, Merriman moved to Chattanooga and opened a wholesale grocery business, which quickly grew to have customers in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. Eleven years later, Merriman partnered with other businessmen to open the City Savings Bank. Merriman served as president of the bank for many years. Merriman was elected to the Board of Alderman in 1889.

Appointed mayor on January 15, 1891, upon the death of Mayor John Hart, Merriman led Chattanooga through an exciting year. Mayor Merriman welcomed President Benjamin Harding to the city in April and personally escorted him on a three–hour tour of the city before President Harding spoke to a convention of Southern steel manufacturers gathered in Chattanooga. On February 18, 1891, Mayor Merriman presided over the opening of the Walnut Street Bridge. At the ceremony, Mayor Merriman spoke of the promise of Chattanooga before the Mayor of Hill City (now North Chattanooga) spoke of how great the easier access to downtown Chattanooga would be for Hill City residents. At the end of their speeches, the two mayors drove the first car across the Walnut Street Bridge. Also during his short term, Mayor Merriman assisted with the laying of the cornerstone for Erlanger Hospital.

Mayor Merriman did not run for re–election in 1891.

Birth & Death: 1837–1903

Upon graduation from the University of Georgia, Garnet Andrews returned to his native town of Washington, Georgia to begin practicing law with his father and was admitted to the Georgia State Bar in 1859. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Andrews enlisted in the 1st Georgia Regulars. Andrews rose to the rank of Major, participating in many of the large Virginia battles, including the defense of Richmond.

After the Civil War, Andrews moved to Mississippi where he practiced law, served a term in the State Legislature and published Andrews’ Digest of Mississippi, a book on Mississippi state laws. In 1882, Andrews moved to Chattanooga, where his parents had relocated, and began a new law practice and became active in the real estate business.

Upon the request of several businessmen, Andrews ran for mayor in 1891 and won. Mayor Andrews became Mayor of Chattanooga at a time that Chattanooga’s growth and outlook was good. However, his term ended as Chattanooga and the nation were entering an economic depression that caused many banks and businesses to close.

Birth & Death: 1861–1931

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, George Ochs moved to Knoxville, Tennessee with his family at the age of seven. He attended the University of Tennessee, and in 1879, he left college and moved to Chattanooga to work for his brother Adolph at The Chattanooga Times. In 1884, George became the managing editor of the Times–owned industrial magazine The Tradesman.

In 1890, George Ochs won a city commission seat, became the Police Commissioner and was named president of the Chattanooga Police Commission for three years. As a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1892, Ochs had the privilege of seconding the presidential nomination of Grover Cleveland. The following year, Ochs won the mayoral race. Two years later he was re–elected. During his four years as mayor, Ochs oversaw the construction of the first city auditorium and city hall. Even as the country was recovering from an economic depression, Ochs and the commissioners were able to retire the city’s debt.

Following his terms as Mayor, Ochs served as president of the city’s Board of Education and held several offices in the National Democratic Party. When his brother Adolph purchased The New York Times, George returned to the publishing business. As Adolph Ochs’ publishing empire expanded with the purchase of The Philadelphia Times in 1901, George became publisher, overseeing the paper's merger with several other Philadelphia papers. Ochs moved to New York to become editor of the Times–owned Current History, and served as a member of the Board of Directors for The New York Times. Over the years, Ochs held many positions within The New York Times Company.

For seven years, 1907–1914, Ochs serves as president of the Jewish Chautauqua Association. Being a deeply patriotic man, Ochs was concerned about passing on a German name. So he petitioned the courts to change his name from Ochs to Oakes. From that point on, George’s part of the Ochs family carried the name Oakes.

Birth & Death: 1849–1920

Born in Richmond County, North Carolina, Edmond Watkins grew up on a family plantation in Neshoba County, Mississippi. An 1872 graduate of the University of Mississippi, Watkins received his law degree from Cumberland University in Nashville. He practiced law in Meridian, Mississippi for thirteen years before moving to Chattanooga.

Watkins arrived in Chattanooga on January 15th, 1887 as a land boom was sweeping the area, and land speculation was high. Upon his arrival, Watkins purchased one thousand acres of land east of the National Cemetery. Watkins returned to Mississippi to find investors in this property, bringing back several men who became prominent in the city’s businesses.

In 1889, Edmond G. Watkins marveled at his latest construction. It was more than just a home for his wife and family; it was a monument to the rebirth of the south after surviving the Civil War. Built from the Union Army redoubt, Fort Wood, stones that had once seen battles now saw a future of beauty and elegance.

For his eagerness in seeing Chattanooga prosper after the trials of the War Between the States, Watkins was elected mayor of the Scenic City in 1897, thus allowing his Victorian Romanesque home to become the Mayor's Mansion. Today, the restored Mayor's Mansion Inn is Chattanooga's only AAA 4 Diamond property.

In 1888 Watkins became president of the Lookout Mountain Land Company and the Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain Railway Company, which built the broad gauge rail line up Lookout Mountain. In 1892, a local newspaper credited Watkins with the claim that “the development of the mountain is due largely to Watkins’ energy, activity, and enterprise.”

Watkins also served as president of the Tennessee State Bar Association.

Birth & Death: 1837–1909

Born in Bavaria, Joseph Wassman came to the United States at the age of thirteen. After living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for seven years, Wassman moved to New York City. Five years later, in 1869, Mr. Wassman moved to Chattanooga so that he and his brother Isaac could open the Wassman Brothers Dry Goods store. After ten years in Chattanooga, Wassman ran for and won a seat on the Board of Aldermen. Wassman served several terms as an alderman before being elected mayor in 1899. In 1903, he was elected to the Board of Education, a position he still held when he died in 1909.

Birth & Death: 1868–1953

Born in Shelbyville, Tennessee, William Little Frierson moved to Chattanooga in 1890 to establish a law practice. Frierson first practiced law under Judge Lewis Shepherd.

Elected mayor in 1905, Frierson led the city through two turbulent years. Mayor Frierson served at a time when the city experienced great racial divides. The culminating event was the hanging of a black man from the Walnut Street Bridge and an increase in the establishment of Jim Crow laws. His former legal mentor Judge Shepherd oversaw the legal case following the hanging.

Following his term as mayor, Frierson served two terms as city attorney. He was later appointed special justice to the Supreme Court of Tennessee. In 1917, Frierson became assistant attorney general of the United States and served in the position for three years. President Woodrow Wilson appointed Frierson Solicitor General of the United States on May 29, 1920, a position he held until July 1921.

Upon retirement from his national position, Frierson returned to Chattanooga and practiced law for many more years.

Birth & Death: 1867–1920

William Crabtree moved to Chattanooga from Trenton, Georgia. In addition to owning an interest in The Chattanooga Evening News and writing for the paper, Crabtree had an interest in agriculture and acquired a large farm east of Missionary Ridge which he called Belvoir.

Crabtree served on the Board of Aldermen for two years before being elected Mayor in 1907. The years of Mayor Crabtree’s service were ones of growth for Chattanooga. In addition to the city’s first skyscraper being completed, the cornerstone for the Eleventh Street City Hall was laid and Terminal Station opened. As prohibition went into effect during his term of office, Mayor Crabtree also oversaw the establishment of ways to enforce new temperance laws.

After his term as Mayor, Crabtree served in the State Senate and was Speaker of the House before he retired to his farm. In addition to raising Jersey cattle, Crabtree published a weekly agricultural newspaper called Crabtree’s Press that enjoyed statewide circulation. Crabtree eventually sold his paper to The Memphis News who continued its publication.

Birth & Death: 1860–1938

In 1860, T.C. Thompson’s father, Hugh Smith Thompson, was commander of South Carolina’s military college, The Citadel, and there, on September 21, T.C. Thompson was born. Hugh Thompson served as South Carolina’s governor from 1882 to 1886.

T.C. Thompson moved to Chattanooga in 1893 as a representative for the Atlanta Manufacturing Company. In 1898, Thompson became manager of the National Life Insurance Company for Tennessee. Thompson was very active in civic organizations, especially the Civitan Club.

Elected mayor in 1909, T.C. Thompson appointed a committee, consisting of several former mayors and current business leaders, to petition the state legislature to change Chattanooga’s city government from a Board of Aldermen to a city commission system. When established, this system meant that no longer did each ward within the city elect a representative to the Board of Aldermen, but all citizens voted for just five commissioners to oversee the city government. In 1911, the commission form of government changed the term of service for a mayor to four years.

After adoption of the new commission system, the election cycle changed to have the commissioners and mayor elected in April of each year. Mayor Thompson’s first term was cut short with the change in voting procedures. However, he was re–elected mayor in April 1911 and served the first four–year term of any Chattanooga mayor. In 1912, Mayor Thompson oversaw the establishment of Warner Park.

At the end of his second term, Thompson did not seek re–election. In 1917, Thompson became a civilian aid to the Adjutant General of Fort Oglethorpe and served in the position for two years. After returning to private business, Thompson’s lifelong interest in improving the lives of children continued, and he worked to establish a children’s hospital. Working through the Civitan Club, Thompson privately raised funds for the hospital before asking the city and county to issue $250,000 in bonds for the project. During the construction of the eighty–nine bed Children’s Hospital, Thompson insisted that distinction not be made in patient areas so that those without means were not separated into “charity wards.”

T.C. Thompson served on the board of the Childrens’ Hospital until his death in 1938. Six years later, the board of trustees voted to change the name of the hospital to the T.C. Thompson Childrens’ Hospital.

Birth & Death: 1867–1923

Born in Kingston, Tennessee, Jesse Littleton moved with his father to Texas as a child but returned to Tennessee to live with his brother John, the publisher of the Nashville Republican. Under his brother’s tutelage, Jesse worked in the newspaper business before becoming involved in state politics. Appointed to a position with the United States Revenue Service, Littleton moved to Winchester, Tennessee. President Benjamin Harding appointed Littleton postmaster for Winchester, and President Grover Cleveland renewed the appointment. Following these appointments, Littleton served a term as mayor for Winchester.

Littleton moved to Chattanooga in 1911 to practice law. Elected mayor in 1915, Littleton oversaw the completion of the Market Street Bridge, the dedication of Lincoln Park for the city’s black citizens, and the merger of James County with Hamilton County.

Birth & Death: [Birth Year] – [Death Year]?

Former Mayor Alexander Chambliss ran for a third term of service using the slogan: “A good name is as worth while to a city as it is for a man.” During Mayor Chambliss’ third term in office, the Tivoli Theater opened, construction of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium began, and the city’s first airport opened. Mayor Chambliss and the city commission also changed traffic within the city as they passed an ordinance banning horse–drawn vehicles on Market Street.

Mayor Chambliss was re–elected in 1923. However, he resigned from the office a month later to accept an appointment to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Birth & Death: 1868–1927

Upon graduation from the University of Michigan, Richard Hardy became superintendent of public schools in Ypsilanti, Michigan. A few years later, he transferred to Escanaba, Michigan before leaving education to become a salesman for Prang Educational Company in Chicago. In 1905, George Millen of Michigan asked Hardy to assist in establishing the Dixie Portland Cement Company in Richard City, Marion County, Tennessee. Hardy agreed, moved south, and became secretary of the company. Though he moved to Chattanooga in 1907, Hardy remained active in the Cement Company and became president of the Company in 1914, a position he held until his death in 1927. Very interested in making sure that children have the opportunity to receive a good education, Hardy oversaw the establishment of a company–built school at Richard City. With the company paying for construction, teachers, books and all needs of the school, the school became a “model school” for new educational techniques. Hardy often said that the establishment of this school was the best thing he accomplished.

Upon the resignation of Mayor Chambliss, Chattanooga commissioners voted to elect Edward David Bass as mayor. However, due to influence from the Tennessee Governor, Bass declined the position, and Richard Hardy was asked to complete the four–year term of Mayor Chambliss.

Mayor Hardy died just four months after the completion of his term. Upon his death, it was noted that, although the Mayor and his wife had no children, that they had been instrumental in the lives of many, as they paid for almost one hundred boys to attend college.

Birth & Death: 1873–1960

Elected mayor in 1927, Edward David Bass became only the second mayor to have been born in Chattanooga. Unlike the other, Hugh Whiteside, Bass’s family was not a family of great wealth. Orphaned at the age of eleven, Bass left school to begin work along the production line at the D.M. Stewart Manufacturing Plant. By 1900, Bass had saved enough money to follow in his father’s footsteps and open a grocery on the corner of Main Street and Central Avenue.

In 1906, as a group of businessmen formed the Highland Park Business League and searched for a candidate to run for the Hamilton County Court; Bass agreed to be a candidate. Upon winning the seat, Bass sold his grocery store and dedicated his life to public service. In 1911, as Mayor T.C. Thompson led the campaign to change the city government to the commission format, Bass ran for the state senate. As a Senator, Bass helped pass the legislature that allowed Chattanooga to change its city government structure. After his senate term, Bass returned to Chattanooga and served as Commissioner of Streets and Sewers for three terms. During his service as a commissioner, Bass attended the University of Chattanooga’s Law School and passed the bar at the age of forty–six.

Upon the resignation of Mayor Chambliss in 1923, Bass’s fellow Commissioners elected him mayor. However, state politics kept Bass from accepting the position. In 1923, as Governor Austin Peay prepared to appoint Mayor Chambliss to the Tennessee Supreme Court, he was pressured to not appoint Chambliss if it meant that Bass would become mayor in Chattanooga. Governor Peay then asked Bass to promise that, if elected, he would not serve. Bass did as the Governor asked. The motivation for this political action appears to have been pressure from the statewide Ku Klux Klan, who promised to have Chambliss’ appointment blocked if Bass was to step up to the position of mayor in Chattanooga.

During his last term as Commissioner of Streets and Sewers, Bass performed an act that may be the one he is most remembered for; he extended Broad Street past Ninth Street (today, Martin Luther King Boulevard.) At the time, Broad Street ended at Ninth Street where a row of brick buildings sat upon the southern side of Ninth Street across from Broad Street. The warehouses, owned by the state of Georgia, sat empty, and Bass worked for many years to negotiate the purchase of the buildings so that Broad Street could be opened to the south. Georgia officials continually refused to sell the buildings. On May 6, 1926, a Friday night, without consulting the Mayor, city attorney or other commissioners, Commissioner Bass led a large crew of street department workers in descending upon the buildings and tore them down. Beginning this mission around 6:00 pm, Bass drove the first car through the opened buildings around midnight. According to news accounts, word of the escapade spread quickly, and the streets filled with citizens cheering Bass and his workmen. The Elks Club Band, said to be practicing nearby, appeared and played the song “Marching through Georgia.” By Monday morning, the length of Broad Street was extended. The state of Georgia sought immediate action against the city, but the Supreme Court ruled that a state’s sovereignty ended at the state line. The following Saturday, Commissioner Bass and his crew began the destruction of buildings that blocked Broad Street at Eleventh. At the end of his project, Commissioner Bass had successfully opened Broad Street south to link with Whiteside Street (which ran from Lookout Mountain to Twelfth Street.) Today, Whiteside Street is known as South Broad Street.

In 1927, the city of Chattanooga elected Bass as mayor and re–elected him for the next five terms. Mayor Bass led the city through many events, including the nation’s Great Depression. Upon his retirement in 1947, Bass said he took great pride in the fact that, during the Depression, Chattanooga was one of the few cities able to meet its debts without issuing city script. At the time, Bass noted that not only did Chattanooga pay all its debt but continued to pay all of its city employees without raising the tax rate.

In 1929, Mayor Bass oversaw the annexation of many of Chattanooga’s suburbs including St. Elmo, Missionary Ridge, Alton Park, North Chattanooga, Brainerd and Riverview. These annexations doubled the size of Chattanooga.

In a press conference on June 17, 1946, Bass announced that he would not seek re–election the following year but would complete his term even though his doctors had asked him to resign from office due to health problems. On January 10, 1947, three months before his term ended, Bass’s health forced him to resign.

Birth & Death: 1879–1958

Upon the resignation of Mayor Bass, the city commission appointed Commissioner of Fire and Police Elijah Betterton as acting mayor. Better known as “Lige,” Mayor Betterton had first been elected to the City Commission in 1935 and served as the Commissioner of Streets and Sewers for six years. Mayor Betterton did not seek a full term as mayor and retired from public service at the end of his term as acting mayor.

Birth & Death: 1889–1958

Hugh Wasson moved to Chattanooga in 1929 to open the Colonial Baking Company and became a successful businessman active in the community. Passing the company to his son in 1946, Wasson retired as President of Colonial Baking. Upon the urging of a group of local businessmen, Hugh Wasson announced his candidacy for mayor on February 11, 1947, just one month prior to the 1947 Mayoral election. In what the local newspaper called “one of the closest elections in the city’s history,” Wasson won the Mayoral seat.

Stating that he believed in sound planning and fiscal policies, Mayor Wasson said that he would run the city like he ran his successful business. Mayor Wasson instituted the policy that the city would produce monthly financial statements for public perusal instead of the yearly financial statements that had been the city’s norm. He also pushed for the collection of back taxes, and during his term, the city collected $600,000 in overdue taxes.

Elected in the post World War II era, Mayor Wasson came into office facing “streets without surfaces, students without schools and districts without police.” To solve part of these problems, Mayor Wasson oversaw a bond issue for $1,200,000 in 1947. Plans for this money included city street work, sewer extension, and a new Second District school.

Birth & Death: 1901–1989

Rudy Olgiati’s mother moved the family from Gruetli (Grundy County), Tennessee to Chattanooga after his father died in 1913. Olgiati grew up in the Alton Park and St. Elmo regions of Chattanooga. He briefly attended the Chicago Technical Institute and worked for the Chattanooga Glass Company before entering the construction industry. Starting as a bricklayer, he rose to become superintendent of a major construction company.

In the late 1930s, Olgiati joined Chattanooga’s Department of Public Utilities and became superintendent of Warner Park. During World War II, he served in the United States Corps of Engineers, reaching the rank of major before being discharged in 1945.

Returning to Chattanooga, Olgiati was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Chattanooga Commission. In 1946, he became the Department of Public Service Commissioner and won the seat in the following year’s election. In 1951, he was elected Mayor, defeating incumbent Mayor Wasson.

Early in his first term, Mayor Olgiati announced a $100,000,000 “Program of Progress,” funded through federal grants, which laid the modern infrastructure of Chattanooga. Under his leadership, Chattanooga became the first city in Tennessee to complete an interstate system.

Olgiati was re–elected as Mayor in 1955 and 1959. He ran for the Democratic Nomination for Governor of Tennessee in 1962 but lost to Buford Ellington.

Notable projects during Olgiati’s tenure include a second tunnel through Missionary Ridge, the widening of Rossville Boulevard, completion of the Olgiati Bridge, and modernization of Lovell Field Airport. His development of the west side through the Golden Gateway Project included the controversial removal of the top half of Cameran Hill. He also oversaw the conversion of many streets to one–way systems, and the modernization of the city’s sewer system.

Olgiati sought a fourth term as Mayor in 1963 but lost the election.

Birth & Death: 1928–2004

A native Chattanoogan, Ralph Kelly received a degree in political science from the University of Chattanooga and a law degree from Vanderbilt University. Kelley entered practice in Chattanooga in 1954 and was appointed assistant prosecutor in the city’s attorney general office. Kelley’s first political campaign was for the local seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives. After this four–year term, Kelley announced his candidacy for Chattanooga mayor. On March 12, 1963, Kelley defeated incumbent Mayor Rudy Olgiati. Upon his election, Kelley became the first University of Chattanooga graduate and the youngest person to be elected Mayor of Chattanooga.

In a sweeping change in Chattanooga’s history, Mayor Kelley declared all city facilities “open to all.” This action on September 24, 1963, opened all public buildings, parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, golf courses, and community centers, beginning Chattanooga’s desegregation. As the South worked through desegregation, Mayor Kelley worked with representatives of all communities in Chattanooga to try to ease citizens’ concerns. Interviewed many years later, Mayor Kelley looked back on the time and stated, “At least we kept Chattanooga off the front page of national newspapers at a time that they were highlighting actions across the South.”

Re–elected in 1967, Mayor Kelley only served two years of his second term, as he resigned effective January 1, 1969, to accept an appointment as referee for the Eastern District of the United States Bankruptcy Court.

Birth & Death: 1916–1980

Commissioner of Public Works and Vice–Mayor A.L. “Chunk” Bender assumed the office of Mayor on January 1, 1969, upon the resignation of Mayor Ralph Kelley. Following four years of service during World War II, Bender returned to Chattanooga and became superintendent of city parks, a position he maintained until an unsuccessful bid for the county commission in 1955. In 1958, County Judge Wilkes Thrasher brought Bender back into public service by appointing him county manager. Upon the death of Public Works Commissioner Pat Wilcox in 1962, Bender was appointed to finish the term. Commissioner Bender ran successfully for a full term in 1963 and was re–elected in 1967 without opposition. Commissioner Bender received the largest percentage of votes among the other commissioners, and thus he became vice–mayor under Mayor Ralph Kelley.

On December 3, 1968, Mayor Kelley announced his resignation, passing the office of Mayor to “Chunk” Bender effective January 1, 1969. Due to ailing health and on his doctor’s advice, Mayor Bender resigned from office on January 26, 1971.

Birth & Death: 1903–1986

Following the resignation of Mayor “Chunk” Bender, Vice Mayor and Commissioner of Education and Health, Dean Peterson, became Mayor. With the general election less than eight weeks from the time that Mayor Bender resigned, Mayor Peterson maintained his role of Commissioner of Education and Health while overseeing the daily workings of the city government. Mayor Peterson did not seek the office of mayor in 1971.

Birth & Death: 1925–?

A native Chattanoogan, Robert Kirk Walker attended the University of the South and the University of Virginia School of Law. While maintaining his law practice, Walker was active in community service, particularly in education and the need for higher education in Chattanooga. He served as chairman of the Special Four Year State College Committee and the Educational Task Force set up by the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce. In this position, he pushed legislation that allowed the University of Chattanooga and the University of Tennessee to merge, creating the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Walker was also influential in gaining state funds for the expansion of Chattanooga State and relocating the school to its current location on Amnicola Highway.

These experiences and his desire to help further develop Chattanooga led Walker to announce his candidacy for mayor in late 1970. Elected in March 1971, Mayor Walker took the helm as Chattanooga faced race riots, fire bombings, and downtown decline.

Throughout his term, Mayor Walker created the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) to improve public transportation, repealed Sunday Blue Laws allowing businesses to open at 1:00 pm on Sundays, and led the city in a time of great expansion through annexation. When Mayor Walker took office, the city of Chattanooga consisted of 56.3 square miles and 119,923 citizens. At the end of his term, the city contained 120.1 square miles and 169,952 people.

Mayor Walker brought national attention to Chattanooga through the digitization of city records. Under Mayor Walker’s leadership, the city developed an information retrieval system designed to computerize data used to assist forty–two government and private agencies. By 1973, the system was a prototype for other city governments, and Mayor Walker was invited to address the National Computer Conference held in New York City. Between 1973 and 1975, 130 local governments in thirty–two states visited Chattanooga to see the Human Services Delivery System and Urban Management Information System in use.

Mayor Walker was also instrumental in orchestrating a joint agreement between the city and county to build the Chattanooga Hamilton County Bicentennial Library, consolidating police services at the Police Services Center on Amnicola Highway, and setting aside land for three public parks, including what is today Miller Park.

Birth & Death: 1930–?

A native of Orlando, Florida, Charles A. “Pat” Rose began working as an assistant traffic engineer in Chattanooga in April 1964. In November 1965, he became City Coordinator, a position he held for four years. In January 1969, when Vice–Mayor and Commissioner of Public Works, A.L. “Chunk” Bender, became mayor, Rose was appointed acting Commissioner of Public Works. In his first political race, Mr. Rose won a full term as Commissioner in March 1971. As the city charter read at the time, the commissioner with the second most votes in the general election served as vice–mayor, so Rose also served in that capacity as he served as Commissioner of Public Works.

Elected mayor in 1975, Pat Rose pushed for the redevelopment of the central business district. A successful first term allowed Mayor Rose to run for re–election without opposition in 1979. During his terms as mayor, the Chattanooga Hamilton County Bicentennial Library opened, TVA offices expanded downtown, and the Moccasin Bend Waste Treatment plant and the city sewers were expanded. Mayor Rose pushed for and saw the construction of the C.B. Robinson Bridge, offering citizens another way across the Tennessee River.

Upon retirement in 1983, Mayor Rose entered the private business world. However, in 1987, stating that he missed public service, the former mayor ran for and was elected as the Commissioner of Public Utilities. Mr. Rose served in that capacity until 1990 when a change in the city charter transformed Chattanooga’s form of government from a City Commission to a City Council.

Birth & Death: 1932–2013

Born in Chattanooga, Gene Roberts graduated from Chattanooga High School, served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, and returned to Chattanooga as a copy editor and reporter for the Chattanooga News Free Press. In 1958, Roberts graduated from the University of Chattanooga and rejoined the News Free Press as a reporter. Roberts left the newspaper in 1960 to become the Public Information Officer for Mayor P.R. Olgiati. Following Olgiati’s term as mayor, Roberts joined the FBI as a special agent, a position he held for three years before returning to Chattanooga.

Roberts' first political race came in 1971 when he ran against incumbent James “Bookie” Turner for the seat of Fire and Police Commissioner. Roberts won the race and four years later was re–elected with 65% of the vote. Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander appointed Roberts as the head of the Tennessee Safety Department in January 1979. Roberts remained with the state until November 1982, when he resigned to seek election as mayor of Chattanooga.

With Mayor Pat Rose retiring at the end of his term in March 1983, Roberts joined a field of five others seeking election to the mayor’s office. On election day, Roberts won with an overwhelming 56% of the vote. Mayor Roberts served four terms until his retirement in 1997. In June 1989, Mayor Roberts was honored as Mayor of the Year by the Tennessee Municipal League.

In August 1989, the U.S. District Court ruled that Chattanooga’s commission–style government was illegal and mandated that the city develop a council system with councilmen elected from individual districts. In May 1990, the city held an election to install a new mayor and nine councilmen to create the new council system. Mayor Roberts thus became the first mayor of the new system of government.

Mayor Roberts oversaw the beginning of the redevelopment of downtown Chattanooga’s waterfront. He advocated the revitalization of downtown streets, the construction of the Tennessee Aquarium, and worked with preservationists to save the Walnut Street Bridge.

Perhaps the largest issue of his terms culminated with a vote in November 1994 to consolidate the city and county school systems. Mayor Roberts had been a strong advocate for merging the city’s school system with that of Hamilton County’s. Though voters approved the merger, lawsuits kept the two systems from joining until 1996.

In 1995, Mayor Roberts oversaw the city’s purchase of a portion of the former Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant, stating that the site would serve as a “significant industrial recruitment tool.” Mayor Roberts announced that he would not seek a fifth term in May 1996.

On January 29, 2013, Mayor Ron Littlefield and other city officials dedicated the Gene Roberts Public Service Complex on East 11th Street, in the old Onion Bottom section of Chattanooga where Mayor Roberts grew up.

Birth & Death: 1954–?

Jon Kinsey moved to Chattanooga at the age of eight. Kinsey attended The Baylor School, and as a high school student, he showed great interest in politics. He worked with several statewide campaigns, and in the summer of 1972, he worked for the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach. Kinsey then attended Boston University before returning to Chattanooga.

Going into the building and development business, Kinsey was co–founder of Leonard, Kinsey and Associates and served as chairman of the Chattanooga Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. In 1996, Kinsey announced his candidacy for mayor, and upon his election on March 4, 1997, he became the first person elected to the city’s top office from outside of city government in twenty–six years. In his inaugural address, Mayor Kinsey emphasized the need to improve education, increase jobs, and revitalize neighborhoods.

During his first year in office, Mayor Kinsey eliminated the city’s Safety Administration Department in order to separate the Fire and Police Departments, led the City Council to lower property taxes, and developed a plan to expand the city’s parks over the next ten years. Mayor Kinsey also oversaw the establishment of a Department of Neighborhood Services to work with neighborhood associations, maintain housing codes, and act as liaison between tenants and landlords when necessary.

On November 24, 1998, Mayor Kinsey announced plans to take over the Tennessee–American Water Company so that the city could maintain its own water system. Over the next year, the city tried to condemn Tennessee–American Water’s property in order to gain control of the company. As a result, the company sued and sought a citizens’ vote on the issue. On October 25, 1999, the City Council ended the attempted takeover process by agreeing to a settlement with the company.

Mayor Kinsey’s pledge to increase the city’s recreational facilities led the City Council to adopt his $65 million Recreate 2008 plan. The first step in the plan changed the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to the Department of Parks, Recreation, Art, and Culture. On November 16, 2000, the city acquired 110 acres of land on DuPont Parkway for the construction of soccer fields. The plan continued with further improvements and expansion in city parks.

Mayor Kinsey did not seek re–election.

Birth & Death: 1952–?

Mayor Bob Corker was elected in March of 2001 with 54% of the vote. He came to office with a strong focus on economic development, education, and revitalizing the city.

In his first three years, Mayor Corker implemented crucial economic development tools to jump–start the economy and attract jobs and businesses to the community. He worked tirelessly with the Chamber to establish a recruitment program, collaborated with the county and state to develop a 1,200–acre industrial site, now home to Enterprise South—one of the Southeast’s most promising industrial parks. Corker also improved and increased air service and established partnerships to leverage Chattanooga’s location in the Technology Corridor, shaping a new economy for its citizens.

Perhaps the most visible accomplishments of his administration have been his transformative work on the waterfront and in education.

Early on, Mayor Corker responded to the notice that nine urban elementary schools were marked by the state as problem facilities. He gathered community leaders and worked hand in hand with the county to establish the Community Education Alliance, which provided incentives for teachers and principals at these nine schools. The Alliance was based on the premise that every child could learn and that teaching was among the most noble of professions. After three years, 56 of the school system’s most effective educators took advantage of the bonus incentives for high–performing teachers and principals. Since the effort began, these schools have outpaced all other schools in student gains, and in the fall of 2003, they opened for the first time with not a single position vacant. These schools have become places where educators want to be, demonstrating that with appropriate support, tremendous results can be achieved in public education.

In 2002, Mayor Corker announced the 21st Century Waterfront Plan, a transformative project for the city. He sought community input, resulting in a plan that would forever change Chattanooga's look and feel. Mayor Corker established a $120 million trust to fund the endeavor, sourced from taxes paid by visitors and local donations, ensuring no financial burden on the citizens of Chattanooga.

Today, the 21st Century Waterfront Plan is being implemented, defining the community in the eyes of others. Other initiatives, like the Public Art Plan and the Outdoor Initiative, have grown from this original blueprint for change. Through his determination and with the help of many in the community, Mayor Corker led a revitalization that spans economic, aesthetic, and educational lines. He brought people from all walks of life together with a common goal of improving their community, yielding outstanding results.

Mayor Corker’s leadership and enthusiasm for Chattanooga have helped make the community a model of the 21st Century American City.

Birth & Death: 1954–?

Mayor Ron Littlefield was sworn into his second term as Mayor on April 20, 2009. He brought with him many years of experience in City Government and urban planning. Under his guidance, Chattanooga experienced a manufacturing rebirth with Volkswagen's announcement of their North American Manufacturing facility at the Enterprise South Industrial Park. This investment of $1 billion resulted in 2000 direct jobs and another 9500 indirect jobs. Mayor Littlefield worked closely with officials at all levels to attract thousands of new jobs to the region.

Mayor Littlefield’s dedication to Chattanooga’s neighborhoods resulted in more sidewalk construction than any previous administration. Coupled with increased community involvement, Chattanooga saw a resurgence of neighborhood pride and unity against blight and crime. The Department of Neighborhood Services, under his direction, re–established itself as a premier resource for reclaiming and strengthening neighborhoods.

Since 2005, approximately 198 miles of roads have been repaved, replaced, and improved in the city. This, along with Mayor Littlefield's experience working with State and Federal officials, improved Chattanooga's infrastructure and positioned it for further funding.

As a community planner in the 1970s, Ron Littlefield helped establish the Brainerd Levee as the City’s first Greenway. As Mayor, he extended and improved the City’s Greenway system. Mayor Littlefield transformed Warner Park, making it a first–class facility able to host regional and national events with an estimated economic impact of $25 million within the next five years.

In 2006, Mayor Littlefield signed the US Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, committing to sustainability. He appointed the Chattanooga Green Committee in 2007 to assist in this goal.

Mayor Littlefield's commitment to technology is evident in the installation of cameras in high–traffic areas, deterring speeding and aiding in crime prevention. He also prioritized providing better access to services for the less fortunate, working towards efficient delivery systems.

In private life, Mayor Littlefield was a Realtor specializing in Commercial and Industrial Development from 2000 to 2005 and taught at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Mayor Littlefield and his wife Lanis have been married for over 40 years, residing in the same neighborhood for more than 30 years. They have two grown sons and are active members of Calvary Chapel, where they participate in church activities and lead a small group Bible study.

Birth & Death: March 31, 1968–?

Andy Berke was born on March 31, 1968, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Marvin and Kandy Berke. His grandfather, Harry, founded a local law practice dedicated to helping Tennesseans, instilling in Andy a passion for community service and problem–solving.

After graduating with honors from Stanford University in 1990, Andy worked as a legislative assistant for Tennessee Congressman Bart Gordon. Inspired by Congressman Gordon's dedication to public service, Andy pursued a career in law.

Andy graduated with honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 1994. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Deanell Tacha of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Judicial Circuit in Denver, Colorado, while also teaching at Kansas University Law School as an adjunct professor.

Elected to the State Senate in 2007, Andy became Vice–Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus and served on the Senate Education and Transportation Committees. He was recognized for his commitment to public education and received several awards for his legislative efforts.

In March 2013, Andy was elected Mayor of Chattanooga with over 72% of the vote. He immediately initiated a government reorganization, focusing on street safety, economic growth, and efficient use of taxpayer dollars.

Under Mayor Berke's leadership, Chattanooga saw a decrease in crime rates and an increase in job opportunities. He implemented workforce development strategies and initiatives to increase economic mobility, including efforts to end chronic veterans' homelessness.

Though the city lacks authority over the school system, Mayor Berke invested in early childhood education and launched programs like Baby University to support parents in need.

Mayor Berke spearheaded initiatives to leverage Chattanooga's internet infrastructure, establishing an Innovation District and partnering with nonprofits to promote digital inclusion.

For his leadership, Mayor Berke was named Municipal Leader of the Year by American City and County magazine.