Cravens House: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park - Lookout Mountain Unit, National Park Service

Styles, Sean; Goetcheus, Cari; Hasty, David

Cravens House is located within the Lookout Mountain subunit of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The component landscape is differentiated from the adjacent park for its historic associations to late nineteenth century agricultural settlement patterns, the Battle of Lookout Mountain (Battle Above the Clouds), and its relationship to the commemoration of the Battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga through the establishment of the first national military park. The Craven House is situated on a steep slope just below the limestone palisade of Lookout Mountain’s northern face. The Cravens House landscape retains historic landforms and elements of the farmstead that influenced the course of the battle, as well as elements of the commemorative landscape established by the Park Commission in response to the setting and events of the battle. The landscape also contains features and characteristics associated with park development during the early years of National Park Service (NPS) administration. The Cravens House served successively as a headquarters for Civil War generals in both the Confederate and Union armies, and was a focal point during the November 24, 1983 Battle of Lookout Mountain. The land was first purchased by Robert Cravens in 1854 and soon supported a 300-tree orchard, vegetable garden, and field of row crops. The house and outbuildings, including the stone dairy, were built in subsequent years during the period 1855-1861. The 1863 battle occurred primarily in the Cravens House orchard and yard, and the house served as a headquarters and a Union hospital. Descriptions of the house and farmstead rely upon narrative accounts of battle and oral histories from Cravens’ descendants, as little written or graphic documentation exists for much of the landscape's history. After the war, the damaged house was rebuilt, and in 1896 the Cravens House was acquired by the Park Commission for inclusion in the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. This led to the construction of additional features such as monuments, markers, and gates. The property was transferred to the NPS in 1933, leading to another era of park development and construction. The Cravens Dairy is the only known surviving battle-era structure in the park. Although much of the surrounding slopes have reverted to forest, vistas towards Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge remain largely unobstructed. Vehicular access to Craven House is via the Ochs Highway and Old Shingle Road. Pedestrian routes consist of a brick walk leading from the asphalt parking area to the Craven house, and a grass pathway and stone staircase that lead from the lower parking area up to the terrace level of the house. A gravel access road divides the site, the southern portion being a level, open grass area where the Ohio Monument is sited. A stone staircase leads to the monument, and stone retaining wall bounds the western edge. To the north of the road, a trace road and several spur hiking trails connect to other Lookout Mountain trails that lead up to Point Park and the extant earthworks and rifle pits. Below the retaining wall on the northwest edge of the property are remnant stone foundations of a springhouse and an old servant’s house. The stone wall is edged by a boxwood hedge installed in the early 1960s. An herb garden was also created at that time between the restored house and kitchen. The manicured lawn area is surrounded by a dense woodland and steep slopes. The remainder of the original 70 acre tract has been released to natural succession and, like most of the Lookout Mountain unit, is managed as a natural area. The views from the clearing contain a private residence (constructed after the battle) to the east, Iowa Monument, and the City of Chattanooga to the northeast.

Cravens House: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park - Lookout Mountain Unit, National Park Service

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