"SEE ROCK CITY"



Americans fell in love with the automobile and took to the roads, spawning a whole new advertising medium.  Among the better-known are the iconic red-and-white Burma Shave signs in four stanzas (Cattle crossing / means go slow / That old bull / is some cow's beau / Burma Shave) and the classic red, yellow and white billboards advertising Meramec Caverns.  There were 400 of these, in forty states.  Route 66 between St. Louis and Stanton, MO had forty of them - ten percent of the total - on that 70-or-so-mile stretch of highway culminating at the cave itself.  But the grand-daddy of them all, the most visible, both in terms of size and sheer number, were the ones that read SEE ROCK CITY emblazoned across barn roofs.  Clark Byers, hired by Rock City owner Garnet  Carter, painted over 900 barn ads in nineteen states between 1935 and1969.  If you let him show off his artistry on your barn, in addition to getting your roof painted for free, you would receive a Rock City thermometer to mount on the barn, and a genuine Rock City bathmat.  And as some of the barns proclaimed to travelers "TO MISS ROCK CITY WOULD BE A PITY."

"SEE ROCK CITY" billboards dot the landscape in many southern states.  The iconic
barn roof signs are still around, but in far fewer numbers than in their heyday

Bird houses, designed to look like barns and painted in the original barn
roof advertising motif, are for sale in Rock City's gift shop

The granite rock outcroppings that comprise the heart of the commercial enterprise known as Rock City were historically important to Native Americans.  Likely the first non-natives to report seeing these amazing rock formations were two missionaries.  In 1823, Daniel S. Butrick and William Chambralian were in the area when Butrick made a journal entry dated August 28, 1823 which referred to a "citadel of rocks."   Over a century later, Garnet Carter and his wife Frieda purchased property in this area.

Garnet and Frieda Carter's original home on Lookout Mountain

Frieda Carter built the original stone walkways on the
property, before it became Rock City

Looking down from Rock City at the town below. This view is under a
stone archway, with the swinging bridge in the background

Deer graze on Lookout Mountain

Goats - but not wild.  Notice the feeder in the foreground



Garnet Carter was an inventor and entrepreneur who hoped to develop the area as a golf course.  He soon realized the rocky terrain was too formidable for a golf course.  He then came up with the concept of "Tom Thumb Golf" - - known today as miniature golf.  His miniature golf idea was highly successful and he franchised the concept.  He sold the patent rights and used his profits to open Rock City as a public attraction in 1932.

More of the trails through Rock City

Frieda Carter loved gardening and treasured the fairy tales of her native Germany.  Both of these loves were incorporated into the natural rock setting. The gardens today cover approximately seventeen acres showcasing over 400 native species.  In 1947 the couple incorporated a revolutionary new idea - the "black light" - to illuminate scenes from Frieda's favorite fairy tales which seem to come to life under the ultraviolet lights in Fairyland Caverns.  In 1964, Mother Goose Village was added.

Fairyland Caverns houses tableaus depicting scenes from
Frieda Carter's beloved German fairy tales

The Carters were among the first to use "black lights" commercially

More fairy tales under the black lights



Fairyland Castle

Perched near the summit of 2,388 foot high Lookout Mountain ("See Seven States From Lookout Mountain") on the Tennessee/Georgia border, Rock City, itself, is actually in Georgia.  The approximately two to three hour walking tour of Rock City offers spectacular highlights including a 90 foot waterfall, a180 foot suspension bridge, natural rock formations with descriptive names like Fat Man Squeeze, Needle's Eye, the Hall of the Mountain King, and the legendry Lover's Leap.  Over half a million visitors a year enjoy traversing the 4,100 foot trail to see the sights at Rock City.  Your well-behaved "fur kid" is welcome to join you, as long as he is kept on a leash.  No baby strollers, either for real kids or pets, are permitted.  By the way, some nay-sayers claim that because of haze and other atmospheric conditions, and the curvature of the earth, you can't really "see" seven states from the mountain top, but that you can "look out" in the general direction of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina.

The names of some of the formations are very appropriate...

...like "Needle's Eye", shown here

Gnomes operate a still in the "Hall of the Mountain King"

Mike crossing the suspension bridge.  It sways quite a bit as you cross

Mike and Yvonne at Lover's Leap, with a 90-foot waterfall in the background

"Lookout Mountain" sign at the foot of the mountain as you start up

This sign on the top of the mountain points out the direction of the seven
states that can be seen from Lookout Mountain

Looking east/northeast toward Kentucky and Virginia

Looking southeast toward South Carolina

Looking south toward Alabama

While in the Chattanooga area there are several other "must see" stops for the visitor.  Nearby Ruby Falls offers a respite from the summer heat as it is a constant 59 degrees. It is America's deepest commercial cave. The 145-foot waterfall is the largest underground waterfall in the U.S.

Observation tower and entrance to Ruby Falls

Ruby Falls, the largest underground waterfall in the U.S.

Chattanooga, TN from the observation tower at Ruby Falls

The Tennessee River from the Ruby Falls tower

Only six miles away, downtown Chattanooga's recently renovated waterfront features a lovely cascading fountain tumbling down a series of steps to the Tennessee River.  The downtown area is anchored by the impressive Tennessee Aquarium which includes two major aquatic biomes.  The River Journey opened in1992 and focuses on freshwater creatures and two living forests.  The Ocean Journey debuted in 2005 with creatures from "beneath the waves" and a rainforest.  Nearby is the Hunter Museum of American Arts, featuring American artwork from colonial days to the present.  A new downtown stadium is home to the minor league Chattanooga Lookouts, a Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

The Tennessee Aquarium in downtown Chattanooga

Part of the new fountain on the riverfront in Chattanooga



Of course you can't go to this Tennessee city without visiting the Chattanooga Choo Choo - the 1880's wood-burner made famous in song in the 1940s by Glenn Miller. The train is now displayed on the grounds of the 1906 Terminal Station which has been transformed into an historic hotel. The Terminal Station at one time handled nearly fifty passenger trains a day. Due to an increase in automobile and airplane travel, train traffic through the terminal nearly came to a halt by 1960.  On August 11,1970, the terminal closed to the public and was boarded up.  Thanks to some foresighted investors, it was saved; purchased and re-opened on April 11,1973 as a historic hotel.  In 1989 it was again sold, and refurbished by its new owners.  Today it is possible to  stay in the old hotel or spend the night in one of the train's sleeper cars.  There is a restaurant on the premises and a number of shops as well as the train exhibition.

The Chattanooga Choo Choo in the station

So, the next time you drive the historic roadways like Route 66, U.S. 50, or U.S. 36, look for the barns that say "SEE ROCK CITY" and experience your own Road Stories.

Yvonne isn't real tech savy, but she knows how to "tweet" See Rock City