(Editor’s note: Second in a series)
The state of Tennessee’s proposal to build the new mental hospital on the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District has sparked quite a debate. Business and civic leaders are seeing the need to move the hospital off Moccasin Bend to a more connected setting and allow our community to reap the benefits of a first-class national park. With Moccasin Bend’s rich diversity of history, culture, scenery, flora and fauna, many believe a full national park at our doorstep will bring new travelers to area hotels, restaurants and shops. This windfall to our local economy must not be allowed to slip away.
Civil War tourism is well-established on the local scene, but it’s not well known that Moccasin Bend played a brief but important role in the 1863 Battles for Chattanooga.