S.339 – Seamour & Gerte Shavin Residence, 334 North Crest Road, Chattanooga, Tennessee Photographed on May 3, 2010. It’s difficult to get to this house, but the effort is worthwhile. North Crest Road runs along the crest of a mountain. If you use Google to get a map, you better use it to get directions as well. Otherwise, the map makes it look like you turn right just as you come out of a tunnel – but actually the road is above that tunnel, not adjacent to it. So the first issue is how to get up that mountain. Once you are there, brace yourself for some of the most spectacular views you have ever seen. Not only are you on top of a mountain looking down on Chattanooga – you are in the midst of the northernmost battle positions occupied by both sides during the Civil War’s 1863 battle for Chattanooga (the Tunnel Hill portion of the Battle of Missionary Ridge). The battle for Chattanooga, fought on three fronts, gave control of Tennessee to the North and created a staging area for General Sherman’s assault on Atlanta, which is now a mere two hours away via I-75. Virtually every other house along North Crest Road has a plaque commemorating the units that fought and the officers that died. A sampling appears at the bottom of this web page. Because you must look up the mountain to see the Shavin Residence, the views from the front are not so great. If you make your way to the street that circles behind the property, though, you will have a far better view up the driveway.

The View & The Civil War

Chattanooga was an important railroading center for the Confederacy –

you can see why this ridge would have been a vital conquest during the war.

Memorial to Union Col. Edward Phelps, mortally wounded near this site

– about three doors down from the Shavin Residence

New 05/11/2010 Revised 12/07/2012