A documentary survey of a one block parcel in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee : Chestnut to Fort, Twelfth to Thirteenth Streets

At the request of the Cultural Resources Program of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Jeffrey L. Brown Institute of Archaeology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, has prepared this brief documentary survey of a one-block parcel in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. The purpose of the research is to define potential targets for detailed historical research and archaeological testing within a parcel owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The project area, bounded by Chestnut Street on the east, Fort Street on the west, West Twelfth Street on the north, and West Thirteenth Street on the south, is the proposed site of an expansion of the Chattanooga Trade and Convention Center immediately to the north. This block is currently occupied by the office building and parking lots of the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association (TVPPA). This document does not represent an exhaustive historical treatment of the block and its residential, commercial and industrial tenants, but rather is a brief survey of historic land uses as gleaned from readily accessible documents. The principal sources examined consisted of city plat books which illustrated the character and precise location of improvements on the property. The objective of the research is to provide data pertinent to an assessment of the archaeological research potential of the property. Consequently, there is a temporal bias in the periods researched, with very recent uses of the property receiving less attention. The research specifically aims at estimating sub-surface survivals of archaeological features or deposits that would contribute to an organized body of information about past urban adaptations or historic technologies. No field investigation was undertaken as part of this project.https://scholar.utc.edu/archaeology-reports/1069/thumbnail.jp