Legendary Locals of Chattanooga, Tennessee

Book excerpt: Since its founding in 1816, Chattanooga has seen the rise of many extraordinary citizens, including Rev. T. Hooke McCallie, Civil War pastor; mayor and industrialist John Wilder; Benjamin Franklin Thomas, who established the nation's first Coca-Cola bottling plant; and Adolph Ochs, a successful newspaperman who went on to purchase the New York Times. Bessie Smith sang her first blues here, while the city's railroads hummed to the tune of Glenn Miller's Chattanooga Choo-Choo. Leo Lambert brought Ruby Falls to the public, while Garnet Carter's Tom Thumb Golf, the nation's first miniature golf course, became part of his future attraction, Rock City. "Antique Annie" Houston garnered one of the country's grandest collections of glassware in her barn on the east side of town. Celebrities Reggie White and Samuel L. Jackson also grew up in Chattanooga. Legendary Locals of Chattanooga celebrates these and many other personalities who have helped make Chattanooga a unique and energetic city.