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History · Ooltewah

1 of Ooltewah’s places is on the National Register

Its Register listing is the James County Courthouse. Most of Ooltewah was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1956 on.

1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ooltewah’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Ooltewah’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ooltewah’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ooltewah’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewI-75 Summit Bypass: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Ooltewah came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ooltewah.

Read it all →

Ooltewah was the county seat of James County, a former Tennessee county that went bankrupt in 1919 and was subsequently incorporated into Hamilton County. The former James County Courthouse located in the square in downtown Ooltewah is the community's major landmark. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Alfred Cate (1822–1871), a resident of Ooltewah, was a prominent Southern Unionist and leader in the East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy. Cate and his men destroyed three Chattanooga-area railroad bridges on the night of November 8, 1861, in hopes of paving the way for a Union invasion of East Tennessee.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ooltewah, 1877 to 1991

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877Born hereOscar Seagle is born here
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Born hereLuther Roy is born here
  5. 1956In the archiveI-75 Summit Bypass
  6. 1991Born hereSammy Seamster is born here
By decade

Ooltewah, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s1 item
I-75 Summit Bypassc. 1956I-75 Summit Bypass
1960s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
The Hiram-Douglas Home on Snow Hill Road in Ooltewah, Tn - Hamilton County2020The Hiram-Douglas Home on Snow Hill Road in Ooltewah,…Ooltewah High School Marching Band2017Ooltewah High School Marching BandOoltewah, United States (Unsplash)2016Ooltewah, United States (Unsplash)Int75sRoadTN-Exit11-US11nUS64e2014Int75sRoadTN-Exit11-US11nUS64eLinnieBargerCarillon2010LinnieBargerCarillon
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

I-75 Summit Bypass
Retake this viewI-75 Summit Bypass, c. 1956

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ooltewah’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Ooltewah

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
James County Courthouse
James County Courthouse
Buildings
James County CourthouseBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Ooltewah

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Luther RoyAmerican baseball player · b. 1902
Oscar SeagleAmerican musician · b. 1877
S
Sammy SeamsterAmerican football player · b. 1991
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

CollegedaleIts storyD−

Questions about Ooltewah’s history

What is on the National Register in Ooltewah?

One place: the James County Courthouse (listed 1976).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.