Forever Moccasin Bend
“Where the river, mountains, and plains meet, there the people will gather.”
We established the Forever Moccasin Bend campaign to raise awareness and dedicate funding toward the following objectives:
Highlighting Moccasin Bend’s 12,000 year Indigenous history and significance as the only National Historic Landmark in Hamilton County and the first (and only) National Archeological District in the country.
Celebrating the community-wide preservation efforts that began more than a century ago and protecting Moccasin Bend’s culturally sensitive resources from continued threats.
Partnering with the National Park Service to develop visitor amenities that welcome the public to learn, experience, reflect, and connect across this iconic landscape.
Save The Bend, Again
In August 2023, the news from Tennessee officials of plans to build a new mental health facility on its existing campus posed an unacceptable threat to the park’s nationally significant historic and cultural resources. Our Forever Moccasin Bend campaign entered Phase II to “Save the Bend, Again” from new non-federal construction on land promised for conservation on Moccasin Bend.
National Park Partners immediately rallied the community and thousands of you answered the call! You signed the petitions, sent letters to elected officials and local media outlets, showed up at our public forum, donated to the cause, and proudly sported your Save the Bend stickers all over town!
Together, we scored a victory for preservation when Governor Bill Lee announced the state would instead relocate its mental health facilities off the Bend, just in time for our ‘20 Years of Moccasin Bend National Archeological District’ celebration on October 14 (Indigenous Peoples’ Day).
NPP and our partners treated the community to a day filled with sunshine, music, and educational activities for all ages on the Tennessee Aquarium plaza. Best of all, we welcomed the National Trail of Tears Association Conference to Chattanooga to celebrate the Save the Bend, Again success with us.
We plan to build on the momentum with exciting developments in 2025, starting with a new Visitor Orientation Plaza - stay tuned!
Please donate to National Park Partners today and grow Chattanooga’s national park legacy with us!
#moccasinbendmatters
THANK YOU!
Open the Gateway: Creating a Visitor Orientation Plaza
For the first time, a new visitor orientation plaza will create a welcoming entrance for the public to experience Moccasin Bend National Archeological District. Along with a new programming pavilion and accessible walkway near the Tennessee River, visitors will enjoy a parking area, restrooms, and an interpretive display with trail maps and highlights of Moccasin Bend's 12,000 years of history.
Environmental landscaping improvements include a bio-swale feature to provide animal habitat, allow for natural stormwater drainage, and encourage native plant growth. Thanks to your support, we raised the required 50% local match for the federal Centennial Challenge grant! As of September 2024, the National Park Service is working through the last steps before putting the project out to bid and we hope to invite the public to a groundbreaking ceremony very soon!
Indigenous Ties
12,000 Years, 23 Tribes
“Reproduced with permission from the artist. Copyright 2024, Maria Willison”
From the National Park Moccasin Bend Cultural Landscape Report:
American Indian use and occupation of Moccasin Bend for approximately 12,000 years make this place a nationally important archeological resource. Moccasin Bend contains portions of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, which commemorates the 1838 forced removal of the Cherokee Indians from their homelands by the U.S. government. Additional historic resources include important Civil War earthworks and campsites concentrated along Stringers Ridge. In 1986, out of recognition for the national significance of its cultural resources, 956 acres of the Bend received designation as the Moccasin Bend Archeological District National Historic Landmark. In 2003, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park (NMP) added 755 acres of the Bend as the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District unit of the park.
National Archeological District
DESIGNATED IN 2003, MOCCASIN BEND NAD IS THE COUNTRY’S FIRST AND ONLY NATIONAL ARCHEOLOGICAL DISTRICT, AND FOR GOOD REASON.
Signing documents to create Moccasin Bend National Archeological District
The "Open the Gateway" phase of our Forever Moccasin Bend campaign will create a welcoming entrance to the country's only National Archeological District.
Along with a new programming pavilion and accessible walkway near the Tennessee River, the project establishes a parking area, restrooms, and an interpretive display with trail maps and highlights of Moccasin Bend's 12,000 years of history.
Environmental landscaping improvements include a bio-swale feature to provide animal habitat, allow for natural stormwater drainage, and encourage native plant growth.
We are 90% of the way to fully funding the project, and we need you to get us to the finish line! Help us Open the Gateway and create this great new great outdoor space for you and future generations to enjoy.
Moccasin Bend is the only designated National Archeological District in the entire National Park System. Archaeological studies conducted across the National Historic Landmark peninsula revealed evidence of human activity dating back to 10,000 B.C. as the earliest Paleo-Indians hunted and gathered here; continuous habitations followed through the Archaic, Mississippian, and Woodland periods. Places where the plains meet rivers and rivers meet mountains are magnets for humans, drawing us in since time immemorial.
Such gravitational forces are evident today as the seals of the City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County bear the image of the timeless Moccasin Bend landscape formed where the Tennessee River met the immovable force of Lookout Mountain.
Public support for preserving Moccasin Bend nearly resulted in National Park status in 1950 as President Truman signed legislation approving its inclusion; an indefensible failure of vision on the part of Tennessee Governor Frank Clements in 1953 let that opportunity for a world class park mere moments from Chattanooga’s downtown slip away.
Another 50 years would pass before the Moccasin Bend Task Force studies, originally focused on economic development of the remaining land on Moccasin Bend, instead recommended against the continuing desecration of its nationally significant, culturally sensitive, and irreplaceable historic resources. The 23 American Indian Tribes whose ancestors inhabited Moccasin Bend for millennia were engaged in the planning and recognized as stakeholders in all future land use decisions. Ultimately, elected officials at every level – local, state, federal, and tribal – agreed in 2003 to preserve more than 750 acres on Moccasin Bend through the National Archeological District designation, and to remove nonconforming uses (including the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute, built in 1961) at the earliest opportunity.
Moccasin Bend in the Media