Viaduct at Jonas Bluff Improved the Safety of Cummings Highway

Modern road construction equipment and highway projects have conquered some of the challenges of traveling into the Chattanooga valley through the mountains.   However, in the days of horses, wagons, and Model T automobiles, some routes were treacherous.   From St. Elmo to the bridge across Lookout Creek, the narrow route of Wauhatchie Pike hugged the curves of the mountain slopes.   Some sections were less than sixteen feet wide.   At Jonas Bluff, there was a rocky cliff on one side and a long plunge to the Tennessee River on the other.  In 1935, construction was completed on a viaduct at Jonas Bluff which improved the safety of that section of highway.

The viaduct was one of the later milestones in the timeline of improving Wauhatchie Pike to meet the travel safety requirements of automobiles.  In his book A History of Hamilton County, Tennessee,  Dr.

James W. Livinggood stated, “Throughout the county, construction monies went mainly for schools and roads with the credit for those important programs going chiefly to Judge Will Cummings.  Cummings, born on his family’s farm at Wauhatchie (now called Lookout Valley) in 1872, started his political career in Hamilton County government at an early age.  Educated in the county schools, the Winchester Normal School and the University of Tennessee, he acquired a seat on the County Court in 1894.  He was elected judge from 1912 to 1918 and again for the long tenure of 1926 to 1942.”

During his years as the executive of county government, Judge Cummings worked with county road engineers, the Dixie Highway Association, Tennessee government leaders, and road building businesses such as Dixie Portland Cement on improving roads.  On July 24, 1918 an improved Wauhatchie Pike was dedicated.  The concrete highway was miles ahead of its gravel and chert predecessor.

As automobiles were improved to travel longer distances, public interest in longer routes increased.   A $1,000,000 state project to connect Wauhatchie Pike to Jasper, Tennessee commenced in 1929.  The route was called the Kelley’s Ferry Pike in a September 14, 1930 Chattanooga Times report on the project.  On that date, there was a ribbon-cutting to herald completion of the highway from Chattanooga to Hale’s Bar, where the Marion Memorial Bridge had been finished the previous year.

 In recognition of his support and leadership on the project, the route was named the Will Cummings Highway through a 1931 join resolution of the Tennessee legislature.  The October 10, 1931 Chattanooga News showed a photograph of the large aluminum markers placed at the railroad trestle in St. Elmo and also in Jasper.   In addition to containing the text “The Will Cummings Highway” and the recognition of Judge Cumming’s role, the sign in St. Elmo also carried the U.S. route shields for highways 11 and 41.

The older section of Cummings Highway around Lookout Mountain was straightened and widened by a project led by Stein Construction.  The March 10, 1935 Chattanooga Times depicted before and after views of the section at Jonas Bluff.  Alongside the original narrow, curving section was a new, wide viaduct.

For the next thirty-plus years, Cummings Highway carried traffic from Birmingham, Huntsville, Memphis, and Nashville into Chattanooga.  In the 1960’s, Interstate 24 was constructed, and required a major project to shift the Tennessee River north at Moccasin Bend to allow room for the freeway.

Today, the Jonas Bluff viaduct carries mostly local traffic on Cummings Highway.  One can see the viaduct from Interstate 24 or from a boat on the river.  However, only look up at the mountain if you’re the passenger and not the driver.

If you have additional information on the Jonas Bluff viaduct, please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@bellsouth.net.  I was unable to find information on how Jonas Bluff got its name.