The Lost County Multi-Cache

This is the first cache in Ooltewah, and is purposed to provide little known historical information about the area.

As it is now Ooltewah was originally part of Hamilton County, but it has not always been. After the civil war this area was embroiled in political turmoil, as much of the country understandably was. This political strife led to the creation of James County.

James County was formed in 1871 from a small portion of western Bradley County and the eastern third of Hamilton County. Chattanooga and Harrison in Hamilton County fought for a railhead but Harrison lost the bid several times as it was bypassed or the lines were never built. Hamilton County wanted to move the county seat from Dallas, a town that no longer exists after the Chickamauga Dam was built. Chattanooga and Harrison vied for this. When Harrison lost they decided to form a new county. Also some people living in Bradley County that lived far out from the county seat of Cleveland decided to petition the legislature to join the new county. Hamilton ceded 1/3 of its territory, the civil districts: 6, 8, 9, 10, and 13th. These districts were largely Republican, white and rural while Chattanooga was largely Democratic and urban.

Legislation was introduced Jan. 27, 1871 by Elbert Abdiel James, Representative from Hamilton County in the 37th General Assembly. The county was named James in honor of his father, Rev. Jesse J. James (no relation to the outlaw), a Methodist minister who first moved to Chattanooga in the 1850's. The county was signed into law Jan. 30, 1871.

An election was held in late April 1871 to choose a permanent seat of government. The nominees were Harrison, which had a courthouse and jail, and Ooltewah, a small town founded in 1856 which had an important rail junction of Southern Railway. The county seat became Ooltewah, an Indian name said to mean 'place of the owl' or ‘owl’s nest’.

Having lost several railroad bids and the county seat twice, Harrison returned to the parent county Hamilton in 1893.

Records for the county are hampered by two courthouse fires, the first in Jan. 1890 and the second in Mar. 1913. James county was dissolved April 15, 1919. James County citizens voted to join Hamilton, Dec. 11, 1919. The former citizens of Bradley County also voted to join Hamilton.

To get credit for this cache you will need to follow these directions:

At the listed coords you will find the old James County courthouse which has two plaques that can be read from the front porch. Read these plaques and the historical marker out front. Email me the name of the building architect and what the building is currently being used for.

Next go to these coordinates: 35N 04.918  085W 04.365

Here you should be staring a man in the face; what is his name?

Convert the mans name to a six digit number using this key:

Let this six digit number represent ABCDEF in the following coordinates to find the cache.

35N 04.ABC  85W 03.DEF

These coordinates are for the actual cache, which is a decon container.