What is Famous About Chattanooga?

The Southern Belle Where I Got Married In 2003

My home town is Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was the setting for some of the greatest battles in the Civil War. IN 1899, Chattanooga became home of the first Coca-Cola Bottling Plant. In 1912, a Ma Rainey discovered a young Chattanoogan named Bessie Smith who would become known as the Empress of the Blues. In 1925, a Chattanooga native, Grady Sutton, starred in The Big Whirl, his first movie out of a 202 film career that would conclude with 1979's Ramones classic Rock N Roll High School. In the 1930's and 1940's, country performers regularly broadcasted on WDOD with Archie Campbell hosting a radio show (later to be replaced by Chet Atkins. Homer and Jethro would record a live album on WDOD. In 1941, the song, Chattanooga Choo Choo recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra was first heard in a movie called Sun Valley Serenade. Hugh Beaumont was a football player for the University of Chattanooga in the 1940's, years before becoming Ward Cleaver. In the late 1950's, Jim Nabors, the future Gomer Pyle star worked as a film cutter at Chattanooga TV stations.
In 1957 Disney filmed part of a movie called Light in theForest starring Helen Hayes' son James MacArthur. Around the same time a future rock hall of fame band, The Impressions, was formed. 1965 saw Jules Alexander, a Chattanoogan co-found the Association. In 1966, Chattanoogan Dave Burke became for a brief time the bass player of the Standells. And for a few years, additional musicians from Chattanooga would not receive fame. In 1978, former Chattanoogan, Karen Allen co-starred in Animal House. She would return to Chattanooga in 1984 for the filming of Starman with co-star Jeff Bridges. 1989 would see Chattanoogan Dennis Haskins star as Mr. Belding in the long running TV series Saved By the Bell.
The 1990's saw Chattanooga's Hixson High School graduate Danny Shirley front award winning country band Confederate Railroad. A 1980's character actor named Samuel L. Jackson rose to greater fame beginning with Jungle Fever and Pulp Fiction. Chattanooga born actress Lori Petty became Tank Girl in 1995. Chattanoogan Raymond Usher dropped his first name around the same time and has became one of the most popular singers today. More Chattanooga history to come.