Residents of the Ridgedale community enjoyed the good life in 1927. By being situated on high ground between Willow Street and North Crest Road, most homes were flood-proof. The elevation also provided panoramic views from windows and porches. There were neighborhood schools, including Central High School and McCallie School, and a tunnel connecting Ridgedale to Brainerd. Many small manufacturers, such as the Consignees Favorite Box Company, the Chattanooga Coffin and Casket Company, and the Converse Bridge plant, provided employment.

Ridgedale was also fortunate in 1927 to have two residents who were thinking of the community’s financial well-being. That year, the Industrial Credit Union Bank was established by John Frederick Holbert and Jesse Maxwell Horton. The institution helped many Ridgedale citizens to afford the purchase of a home, and to survive the Great Depression.

JOHN FREDERICK HOLBERT

Mr. Holbert was born in 1870 at Walnut Ridge Kentucky. He moved to the Chattanooga area in 1907, and established Holbert-Longley Manufacturing. His business was located at 2521 East Main, and produced overalls. As reported in the January 15, 1959 Chattanooga Times, the company eventually grew to 125 workers, and was fulfilling orders for pants for both the Army and the Navy.

J. F. Holbert, along with others from the Ridgedale area, decided that their community needed a local bank. In October, 1927, J. F. Holbert opened the doors of the new Industrial Credit Union Bank at 1500 Dodds Avenue at the intersection with Main Street.

J.F. Holbert passed away in 1950.

JESSE MAXWELL HORTON

Interviews of J.M. Horton can be found in the October 17, 1960 Chattanooga Times and 1961 “East Ridge paper” at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library.

Jesse Maxwell Horton was a native of Coffee County, Tennessee, where he was born in 1875. When he was three years old, his family moved to a farm which was located on present-day Chickamauga National Military Park.

When he was seven years old, Mr. Horton’s father opened a grocery on Montgomery Avenue (later renamed Main Street). The experience inspired J.M. Horton as a twenty year-old to open a grocery with his brother. In 1905, he invested $2,300 in a new grocery business on Dodds Avenue, and relocated the store in 1917 to a larger building on Dodds Avenue at Seventeenth Street. The expansion allowed Horton to add a line of hardware to his business.

J.M. Horton was active in the Ridgedale community, and allowed his store to be used as meeting space for civic groups. He was involved in organizing the Industrial Credit Union Bank, and served twenty years as its president after J.F. Holbert stepped down. During World War II, he also worked with the federal government on its food rationing program. Mr. Horton also served as president of the Tennessee Retail Grocers Association, and was one of several local leaders who promoted Chattanooga as a site for a Tennessee Valley Authority dam.

In late 1929, with the public reeling from news of the stock market crash, J.M. Horton had to calm the fears of anxious depositors. Three bandits had robbed the bank of $35,000. The news spread quickly, and the bank’s customers started a run on the bank. The firm was insured against robbery, but J.M. Horton decided to lock the doors and seek a loan of $50,000 from his friend, T.R. Preston, at Hamilton Bank.

Reminiscent of George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) in the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Jesse Horton returned to the Industrial Credit Union, and displayed the cash in the window. He then was addressed his customers, and assured them that their money was safe.

Jesse Horton passed away in 1969 at the age of 94.

INDUSTRIAL CREDIT UNION BECOMES RIDGEDALE BANK AND TRUST

The Chattanooga Times reported in its July 21, 1951 edition that the Ridgedale Bank and Trust Company would succeed the Industrial Credit Union. The latter had only offered credit union services since 1936, and the move offered customers full-service banking.

William G. (Billy) Smith, who had served as treasurer from the beginning of the old institution, assumed the role of executive vice-president. J.M. Horton continued to serve as president. Opening with capital of $200,000 and surplus of $40,000, Ridgedale Bank and Trust changed the signage at the office building at Main and Dodds and greeted customers.

MERGER WITH HAMILTON NATIONAL BANK

In 1955, Ridgedale Bank and Trust relocated its main office to the Key Hotel at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Cherry Street. It was a highly unusual move of a business headquarters from the suburbs to downtown. Ridgedale Bank and Trust continued to maintain a branch office at the old Dodds Avenue site, as well as an office in East Ridge.

The history of Ridgedale Bank and Trust was relatively short-lived, for on March 10, 1959, the Chattanooga Times reported that the business was merging with the much larger Hamilton National Bank. The Ridgedale office remained one of Hamilton’s branches for many years thereafter.

If you have memories of any of the above financial institutions or of the Ridgedale community, please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@bellsouth.net.

Ridgedale Bank assured customers of the safety of their accounts through the bank's FDIC membership. Click to enlarge.