Stringer’s Ridge Tunnel eased travel difficulties
On March 10, 1910, the Stringer’s Ridge Tunnel opened, and Hill City and the valley beyond the ridge were connected, easing travel into the county and up to Summertown on Signal Mountain. Work began almost 18 months earlier, coinciding with the commencement of work on the Mission Ridge Tunnel. In an effort to connect major portions of Hamilton County, Judge Seth M. Walker and the court simultaneously tackled two major tunnel projects. The Stringer’s Ridge Tunnel construction required more than 18 months and gained national attention.
Sixteen months earlier, on Aug. 29, 1908, the Chattanooga Star reported that work began on Stringer’s Ridge Tunnel but was delayed due to a cave-in on the western end. Removal of debris took three weeks, but since the Hill City end had remained stable, work on the concrete arch supporting the tunnel continued.
By October, reports noted that the new route was “becoming tunnelized,” meaning that the approaches from both ends were grated and drilling extended about 50 feet into the ridge. More than 50 Hamilton County convicts were working on the project under the direction of L. Miller, who had overseen the construction of the Lookout Mountain tunnel for the Southern Railway line. Miller reported to a grand jury committee that the work would be “pushed rapidly to completion,” and the committee members “were pleased with the work, and expressed themselves so.”
While rains delayed Miller and the crew well beyond their projected completion date, the tunnel project continued to move forward. When a Chattanooga Daily Times reporter visited the site in late November 1909, he declared that “for all intents and purposes the big hole in the ground, which should really be christened the Cowart tunnel, is complete.”
Residents on both sides of the tunnel were already using it even though two teams of men from the workhouse spent weeks putting the finishing touches on the project. One team was graveling the road to a 10-inch depth from Montgomery Street in Hill City to the opposite end of the tunnel. The other team was engaged in applying a coat of lime and cement to the interior surfaces; the mixture created the appearance of white paint, helping to brighten the walls while adding an element of stability to the concrete and rocks.
Judge Walker explained that five large lights would also be installed from the tunnel’s ceiling and a lighted pole positioned about 75 yards from each approach. Any issues related to security would be handled by a watchman posted in a gatehouse near the tunnel.
Three months later, the Chattanooga Daily Times reported that two weeks of good weather would allow the completion of the tunnel and a celebratory “opening” ceremony. “The tunnel is considered one of the best in the South … and has been so pronounced by the tunnel experts who have examined it.”
It was built by county workers without oversight by a tunnel expert other than County Engineer Will H. Dodd, to whom Judge Walker gave all credit. In explaining the importance of the tunnel to people on either side, the reporter recounted that people who previously journeyed over the ridge “were compelled to take a roundabout course leading over a long, stiff grade, which taxed the power of the horse. The old route … was almost impossible for a team to pull a heavy load.” In fact, the tunnel cut the time from Hill City to the valley beyond the ridge by an hour and decreased the strain on the horses and mules used by wagoners.
On March 11, 1910, the Stringer’s Ridge Tunnel opened. Interestingly, land values beyond the ridge immediately increased threefold with the barrier to travel removed. Judge Walker speculated that increased land values — and tax revenues — would ultimately pay for the tunnel. Two months later, that news was received with great enthusiasm by the Hamilton County Quarterly Court, as it moved to approve the expenditures necessary for the construction of a new courthouse. The former building, completed in 1879, had burned following a horrific lightning storm on May 7, 1910.
By the summer of 1910, the Stringer’s Ridge Tunnel had not only alleviated travel difficulties but also had become quite the tourist attraction, as residents from nearby counties came to marvel at the engineering feat. Linda Moss Mines, the Chattanooga and Hamilton County historian, is chair of the America 250 Committee. For more on local history, visit Chattahistoricalassoc.org.