City Profile: Chattanooga

photo Samantha Shrader and Lindsey Lawson play in Coolidge Park on the first day that the fountains were turned on for the year due to high temperatures.

* Population: 171,350.

* Geographic area: Southeast Tennessee, on the Georgia state line.

* Date founded: 1838.

* Landmarks: Lookout Mountain, Moccasin Bend, Tennessee Aquarium, Dome Building.

* Median income: $37,260.

* Unique characteristics: Geography, a city with a river among mountains.

* Most famous former residents: Singer Bessie Smith, NFL star Reggie White, singer Usher Raymond, actor Samuel L. Jackson.

* History: The city is the site of a major Civil War battle between Union and Confederate troops, who were fighting for the rail access it gave the Confederacy. Chattanooga also served as part of the Trail of Tears when Cherokee Indians were moved from the Southeast to Oklahoma. The city became a manufacturing center in the 20th century.

* Unique traditions: Riverbend, River Rocks, Wine Over Water.

* Best-kept secrets: Enterprise South Nature Park, Greenway Farm, Raccoon Mountain.

* Fun fact: According to the late Chattanooga and Tennessee historian Zella Armstrong, Chattanooga is a Cherokee word meaning "rock coming to a point."

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