Ooltewah, TN

Ooltewah is an old county-seat square inside modern Collegedale, close to Chattanooga. James County moved its seat to Ooltewah after the county was organized in 1871, and the community became a center for court business, rail travel, shops, and homes. James County went bankrupt and was folded into Hamilton County in 1919, but its courthouse stayed behind. The present brick courthouse was built in 1913 after an earlier building burned, giving Ooltewah a landmark tied to a county that no longer exists.

The James County Courthouse later served as a school and is now associated with Ooltewah Lodge, while the old town grid remains near the Norfolk Southern railroad crossing. Hamilton County planning material describes a compact mix of residences and businesses around the former square, a pattern that still separates old Ooltewah from the surrounding suburban growth. The Ooltewah ZIP code includes several schools, including Ooltewah High and Ooltewah Middle, and Chattanooga supplies the broader regional network. Ooltewah's character comes from that overlap: a historic courthouse town held inside a modern city, with the rail line and square still visible underneath.