Chester Frost Park on a beautiful summer day.
photo by Harmon Jolley
During the summer season, many vacationers include a trip to the beach. For Chattanoogans, that once meant driving many hours, as the nearest ocean is miles away. However, the lakes which were created as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority offered new opportunities for fun on the beach.
TVA first built a swimming area on the south side of the Chickamauga Dam. Then, in 1958, TVA approached the Hamilton County Council with an offer of 198 acres for a park on the shores of Dallas Bay.
County Judge Wilkes T. Thrasher supported the park as a way to serve the recreation needs of the county for years to come.
In a ceremony on Sept. 3, 1959, TVA turned over the deed to Hamilton County. Judge Thrasher said, "We have great resources in the Tennessee Valley, and the TVA is utilizing them for our benefit."
Others on the County Council, such as David Eldridge, Philip Osborne, Jim Turner, and Carrie Thank Wells, were also supportive of the park.
However, some residents whose properties bordered the park questioned the traffic congestion, noise, and pollution that the park would bring. The debate continued until some area chambers of commerce lent their support.
The plans for the county park included a beach and swimming area, 100 picnic tables, 25 charcoal pits, parking lots, and a supervisor's residence. A pavilion was later built on the new Dallas Island.
The site where the park was to be built was known as the Jackson Chapel community, an area that was closely tied to the early history of Hamilton County. In the late 1800's, the Jackson Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church was located where the park superintendent's headquarters are now. The Jackson Chapel cemetery is on Gold Point Circle, the former route of Hixson Pike prior to the TVA impoundment.
The backwaters of Chickamauga Lake flooded the Dallas Hollow, where the springs and streams of Prairie Creek and Dallas Branch once flowed.
On Dallas Hill - now called Dallas Island - the first permanent court house may have once stood on land that belonged to Asahel Rawlings.
On Prairie Peninsula, the village of Dallas once existed, with a post office, school, a hotel, and several pioneer homes.
The Hamilton County Park opened on May 15, 1960. The park had been designed by Charles Graves of Atlanta, an architect who was formerly with the National Parks Administration.
John A. Morgan was appointed the first superintendent. Mr. Morgan was also a landscaper, and used his talents to develop the plantings of trees, shrubbery, and flowers that are still featured in the park today. A bath house, sandy beach, and sea wall were constructed in the swimming area.
Around 98,000 people visited the park in 1961.
I recall going swimming at the county park several times with my family during the 1960's and 70's. My mother loaned my cousin our 8mm home movie camera to make movies of us. After the movies were developed, she learned that he had made his own "beach movie" of those at the park. Sun bathers on the beach and in the water enjoyed the top 40 hits from a juke box at the concession stand. The juke box seemed to play constantly, featuring tunes such as "Dizzy," "Sugar, Sugar," "Young Girl," and "Be My Baby."
The beach was a cheap and popular place for teen-agers to congregate and to work on their tans. In 1969, following the Apollo landing on the moon, the concession stand sold "moon-flavored" Icee's.
The county park was renamed for former County Judge Chester Frost in 1979. During his administration from 1960 to 1974, Judge Frost had taken up the work on the park begun by Judge Wilkes T. Thrasher, who died after being hit by a car in 1960.
Today, Chester Frost Park is enjoyed for recreation year-round, including camping, fishing, and is home of the County Fair in September.