Hidden in Plain Sight: Chattanooga’s History is Everywhere

Historical Sacred Sanctuaries of Chattanooga: First Baptist Church, Old Stone Church Tower, and Mizpah Congregation

Discover Chattanooga's history with a journey through its iconic religious landmarks. These buildings are still around today; some are still operational, and some remain as historic markers and emblems to the past. Learn more about their history and the people who built them and then check these gems out for yourself!

First Baptist Church

506 E. 8th Street

First Baptist Church, also historically called the Shiloh Baptist Church, located at 506 E. 8th Street, has been a hub for black leadership in Chattanooga for over 150 years. It pairs well with a visit to the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, just minutes away.

Originally, its parishioners were a small group of African-American Union Soldiers who were led by chaplain Thomas B. Van Horne, and they worshipped in a blacksmith shop. In 1865, they laid the first cornerstone for one of Chattanooga’s most historically interesting worship houses.

The edifice was built by freed slaves and African American soldiers after the Civil War, and irregularly placed bricks add a sense of character and history to the façade of this incredible Gothic-style cathedral that can hold up to 1000 worshippers. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is probably most famous for rejecting The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s application for a Pastoral Position in favor of Rev. H.H. Battle in the 1950s.

Old Stone Church Tower

At the intersection of Georgia Ave and McCallie Ave.

Methodist history in Chattanooga traces back to a little log cabin at the intersection of Lookout Street and Georgia Avenue in 1839. Within its rustic confines, the first Methodist congregation of Chattanooga was born. During the tumultuous years of the Civil War and Union occupation, members with ties to Northern Methodist churches established First Methodist Episcopal Church in 1881, affectionately known as the "Stone Church." A former Union army chaplain led the church and organized the construction of the famous stone structure in 1885, which housed Chattanooga’s first pipe organ. Notably, the Methodist ties with the North facilitated the founding of a university, which today stands as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Mizpah Congregation

923 McCallie Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37403

In the tapestry of Chattanooga's cultural history, Judaism unfurled its ancient threads long before the dawn of the Civil War. Yet, it was in the war's aftermath that the Jewish community of Chattanooga took root, its narrative weaving seamlessly through the city's landscape.

A small group of Western European and German Jewish entrepreneurs founded the Mizpah Congregation in 1866. Since then, Mizpah has operated on three sites:

1882: the site of the first Temple was 421 Walnut Street
1904: the second Mizpah Temple was at the corner of Oak and Lindsay Streets
1928: Adolph S. Ochs presented Mizpah Congregation with its third temple, located at 923 McCallie Avenue, in memory of his parents, Julius and Bertha Ochs.

This temple, resplendent with history and hope, was christened Mitzpah, a Hebrew word meaning – "overlook" or "lookout," as an homage to the majestic sentinel of Lookout Mountain. The silent 't' later dissolved from the name, evolving it into Mizpah.

Isaac M. Wise is often referred to as the father of Reform Judaism in America. His legacy was interwoven with the city when his daughter, Effie, wed Adolph S. Ochs. Ochs, the visionary publisher behind The Chattanooga Times and The New York Times, carved his own interesting path through history, but that is a tale for a different time. Ochs oversaw the building of the third temple of the Mizpah congregation in 1928, which still stands today, located on McCallie Avenue, and noted as a Tennessee Preservation Site.