UPDATED October 19: NPP Responds to Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute relocation
UPDATE: The State of Tennessee, suddenly and without explanation, reversed its decision to build a new mental health institution on its land recently purchased for exactly that purpose. While this latest development is deeply disappointing, the mission of National Park Partners remains the same: to preserve, promote, and enhance the natural, historic, and cultural resources of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, including Moccasin Bend National Archeological District.
Moccasin Bend is a 12,000-year-old story that continues to be written by today’s residents, visitors, and decision-makers.
If you are a resident of the Chattanooga area, the forces of land and water that shaped Moccasin Bend created a landscape that in turn shaped your city. Learn the layers of history concentrated on this bend in the Tennessee River, and feel a current of connection to the generations before you and the generations to come.
If you’re a visitor to our fair city, make time to explore the Blue Blazes Trail or the Brown’s Ferry/Old Federal Road Trace on Moccasin Bend. These interpreted trails unveil a time capsule of the eastern continent, beginning with Paleo-Indians hunting mastodon in 10,000 B.C. and every Indigenous era since.
If you are a decision-maker or elected official, you need to know that a National Park on the doorstep of our mid-sized city is a gift that keeps on giving. One million annual visitors to Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park support nearly 1,000 private sector jobs and create an average of $80 million in annual economic impact each year. An additional 250,000 visitors traveling to see the only National Archeological District in the entire country means another $20 million and 200 more jobs.
September 23 statement:
National Park Partners of Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Moccasin Bend celebrate today's announcement of a new location for the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute. We are grateful to Governor Bill Lee and Commissioner Marie Williams for their commitment to relocating this important facility, built decades prior to the creation of the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District. We appreciate the efforts of our Hamilton County legislative delegation to balance the significant workforce benefits a local hospital provides with the need to protect this landscape containing Chattanooga's 12,000-year history. We thank Mayor Tim Kelly and Mayor Weston Wamp for their roles in achieving this win-win outcome that will benefit Chattanooga and Hamilton County for generations to come.
The results of archaeological studies recommended by the Moccasin Bend Task Force in the 1980's launched the first Save the Bend movement to protect the Indigenous resources on Moccasin Bend threatened by development and looting. The nonprofit Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park was established in 1995 and achieved that preservation goal when the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District Act passed in 2003. With the Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park now under the banner of National Park Partners, we share our joy with countless partners, donors, board members, volunteers, and staff whose dedication and support throughout the years make days like today possible. We are thankful for our relationships with nearly two dozen federally-recognized American Indian Tribes whose ancestral ties form the foundation of Chattanooga's story. We salute our board member Emeritus, former Congressman Zach Wamp, who authored the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District Act and worked tirelessly to pass the legislation. We remember the late Shelley Andrews, Major McCullough, and Troy Wayne Poteete, whose dedication to preserving and promoting Moccasin Bend's cultural legacy lives on through National Park Partners.
Today marks a major milestone in realizing the decades-long community vision of a world class National Park site on Moccasin Bend. We thank the State of Tennessee for fulfilling their commitment to relocate the nonconforming uses on Moccasin Bend's culturally significant landscape, as agreed upon by city, county, and state government entities during the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District Act negotiations. We look forward to continuing to work with all of our public and private partners to complete the promise of a fully interpreted, historic and cultural asset for residents and visitors to enjoy, forever.