Signal Point Reservation: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, National Park Service

Styles, Sean; Goetcheus, Cari; Hasty, David

The Signal Point Reservation is located along the western brow of Signal Mountain, overlooking the Tennessee River northwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The War Department accepted the five-acre donation parcel for inclusion in the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park because of its prominent position on the mountain, its association to the military campaign in Chattanooga, and its views of the City of Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley. The reservation was formally dedicated in 1966. Signal Point Reservation marks the location where the U.S. Signal Corps relayed messages to and from Chattanooga during the Civil War battle in 1863, as the Union Army of Cumberland was being besieged. The site is representative of signaling stations in East Tennessee that provided wartime communications between Union forces. This was not an original property sought by the Park Commission for commemoration of the Battles of Chattanooga, but rather was initially developed when local citizens set aside two acres for protection in 1932. In 1948, a donation by the Signal Mountain Garden Club brought the landscape to its current size. Most of the landscape features, including a comfort station, shelter, overlook wall, and interpretive exhibits, were constructed by the National Park Service (NPS) between 1956 and 1967. The site is accessed by Signal Mountain Road, which forms the northern boundary of the reservation and terminates at an asphalt parking area within the reservation. Located at the highest point on the reservation, the parking area is retained by two low stone walls. The reservation slopes down from the parking area towards the overlook area and escarpment. A Mission 66 era comfort station is located southeast of the parking area. Steps on either end of the parking area lead down to curvilinear asphalt footpaths which form a loop around the reservation. These paths ultimately descend and connect at the focal point of the reservation, the overlook. A low stone wall surrounds the overlook area, with a Mission 66 era shelter and picnic table situated at the eastern edge of the overlook site. Interpretive panels are located along the overlook walls. Historically, the War Department kept the summit and slopes of the reservation cleared of vegetation in order to maintain the historic views of Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley. Over time these areas were allowed to go into succession such that present views are partially blocked by mixed hardwoods. A dense understory covers the eastern portion of the reservation. The remainder of the site is open grass lawn with a scattered evergreen and deciduous canopy.

Signal Point Reservation: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, National Park Service

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