On November 4, 2008, the Chattanooga City Council approved the renaming of Carter Street between Main and 20th streets in memory of Reggie White. The street signs were later replaced at the various intersections, and now bear the name of the legendary football star of Howard High, the University of Tennessee, and the NFL.

Carter Street still extends from Martin Luther King Boulevard to Main Street. Here’s a quiz. It was named for….

a) Former president Jimmy Carter (Hmmm… he was elected in 1976, and the Bicentennial Library is also near Carter Street. Maybe Chattanooga was on a Bicentennial theme.)

b) Carter Brothers, a former locally-based manufacturer

c) Sergeant Vince Carter, a character portrayed by actor Frank Sutton on the TV show “Gomer Pyle.”

d) None of the above

The street was named for Farish Carter, so “d’ is correct.

If you regularly drive on his street, but have never heard of Farish Carter, you have many fellow motorists along with you. It has been a long time since the thoroughfare was first named for him.

Farish Carter (1780 – 1861) was a wealthy businessman whose life spanned the initial decades of growth of the United States and of the south. He may be better known in Georgia history, for there are numerous Web sites which mention him. In her 1952 book “White Columns in Georgia,” author Medora Perkerson devoted an entire chapter to him titled “More Money Than Carter Had Oats,” an old saying attributed to Farish Carter. “Everything he touched turned to gold” was often said of his antebellum accomplishments.

Several residences were maintained by Farish Carter, and the city of Cartersville is named for him. However, he was often recognized as being from Milledgeville, Georgia. The Southern Recorder newspaper noted in his 1861 obituary that “It is a somewhat remarkable coincidence that he was ushered in and out of life amid the din of war and all its dread incidents.” His father, an aide to General Elijah Clark, died at the siege of Augusta in September, 1780. Two months later, Farish was born at Abbeville, South Carolina.

His mother fled with her family to Virginia after the British raided their plantation. After the end of the Revolutionary War, the family returned to Abbeville. According to his obituary, Farish Carter’s mother provided him “the best advantages of education the country afforded.” However, Farish was intrigued by the mercantile business at a young age, and left school at age fifteen.

Each endeavor from that point forward appears to have been a rung up the ladder of wealth for Farish Carter. "To his great penetration of character, powerful energy, and indomitable will united with strict integrity, Colonel Carter's great success in life was owing."

In 1811, he wed Eliza McDonald, whose family included the future governor of Georgia, Charles J. McDonald. He was a contractor with the United States government during the War of 1812.

While other persons of wealth were focusing solely on agriculture through large land holdings, Farish Carter was also pursuing projects relating to transportation infrastructure and the financial industry. He was involved in navigation improvement projects on the Oconee River to help to move cotton and other products to market.

The passage by the federal government of the Indian Removal Act in 1830 provided Farish Carter and others with new opportunities in real estate. The Tennessee General Assembly established the Ocoee Land District in 1836. This included all of the lands in southeast Tennessee, south of the Hiwassee River and east and south of the Tennessee River, which were formerly held by the Cherokee nation. The small new community of settlers at Ross’ Landing was already looking to extend the street map southward.

In 1838, Samuel Williams organized the Hines Company at Cartersville, Georgia. Farish Carter was involved with this land company and others. Other members were Tomlinson Fort, Z.B. Hargrove, Richard Hines, George W. Lane, John S. Thomas. Soon, surveyors were laying off new streets to join the original grid, and land was being sold to developers.

Farish Carter’s wealth continued to grow through his interest in the East Tennessee Iron Manufacturing firm, the first coke furnace in Chattanooga and the first charcoal plant in East Tennessee. He was also a promoter of the Western and Atlantic Railroad being extended north to Chattanooga. However, I was unable to place him as ever maintaining a residence at Chattanooga, though he likely visited his new business pursuits.

Back in Georgia, Carter amassed a holding of tens of thousands of acres as a result of the land lotteries and sales following the Indian Removal Act. The reference to the abundance of Carter’s oats was made concerning the large quantity of grain produced on his plantations.

Of the new streets in Chattanooga, two were named for the developers. Carter Street was named for Farish Carter, and Fort Street for Tomlinson Fort. Carter Street is first listed in the 1880 city directory as being from James at the junction of Chestnut and Ninth streets southward to the city limits. In an 1886 map, Carter is shown as a fairly wide street that extended almost to Lookout Mountain and ended at the railroad.

Over its history, Carter Street has had a mix of residential, governmental, and commercial interests. In 1902, Chattanooga’s #1 fire hall was located near the northern end of Carter Street in an ornate stone structure. Several houses had Carter Street addresses, and the street was part of the perimeter of Chattanooga’s West Side community. As Carter Street continued south in 1902, most listings were for manufacturers such as Ornamental Iron Works, Dixie Plow, Chattanooga Plow, Ross-Meehan Foundry, and Chattanooga Car and Foundry.

By 1950, Howard High and a branch library were at 1001 Carter Street. There were also several railroad-related businesses. The Carter Street Baptist Church was the southern terminus at 1955 Carter Street.

By the 1950’s, Carter Street and the West Side were included in an urban renewal/slum clearance project led by various levels of government. Construction of the freeway now known as U.S. 27 changed Carter Street into a frontage road. Old buildings were torn down, and replaced by new ones such as a new motel and small offices. I remember that my dentist, Dr. Bert Wills, relocated from St. Elmo to a new office on Carter Street.

Carter Street later gained new properties such as the Trade Center, hotels, and Finley Stadium.

If you have information on any of the subjects named in this article, please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@bellsouth.net. I am seeking a copy of a portrait of Farish Carter which is said to exist.