On Saturday August 17, at 10 a.m., Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will provide a free 90-minute, 1.2-mile walking tour on the antebellum slave trade along the Brown’s Ferry Federal Road Trace on Moccasin Bend National Archeological District. Look for and follow the “Special Program” signs beginning on Manufacturers Road, west of US 27. The trailhead’s physical address is 707 Moccasin Bend Road, Chattanooga, TN 37405.
Four hundred years ago, in August 1619, a Dutch ship delivered 20 Africans to the fledgling colony at Jamestown, Va. Over the next approximately 250 years, Americans bought and sold millions of people. Due to its geographic location, Chattanooga became a crossroads of the antebellum slave trade as people were sold, as one local newspaper put it, “en route to cottondom.” This special tour will explore the history of slavery and the slave trade in the area for a time span stretching from before Jamestown through the Civil War. Participants are encouraged to bring a water bottle, insect repellant and closed-toed hiking shoes.
For more information about upcoming programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, please contact the Lookout Mountain Visitor Center at 423-821-7786 or the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706-866-9241; or visit the park’s website at www.nps.gov/chch.
About the National Park Service:
More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 419 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.
