Catoosa County, Georgia

Catoosa County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Ringgold
Year Organized: 1853
Square Miles: 162

Court House:

7694 Nashville Street
County Courthouse
Ringgold, GA 30736-2363

Etymology - Origin of County Name

The name Catoosa is derived from the Cherokee "Gatusi," signifying a prominent hill or point on a mountain. The name is well-suited to Catoosa County's hilly landscape.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Catoosa County was created from parts of Walker and Whitfield counties. The name Catoosa is derived from the Cherokee "Gatusi," signifying a prominent hill or point on a mountain. The name is well-suited to Catoosa County's hilly landscape.

The Georgia Winery, famous for its muscadine wines, is located in Catoosa County.

Although Fort Oglethorpe is the larger of the two cities, Ringgold is the county seat. Part of Fort Oglethorpe lies in Walker County. The town originally was an Army training center during the two world wars. After the training center was closed in the late 1940s, the city of Fort Oglethorpe was incorporated in 1949.

Points of Interest

The Chickamauga & Chattanooga Military Park, located in Catoosa County and Tennessee, is the oldest and largest military park in the United States. The park commemorates the Battle of Chickamauga fought in 1863. This was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War and marked the end of the Union's first invasion of the Confederacy.

Lake Winnepesawkah is rated as one of America's Top Ten family amusement parks by Travel and Leisure magazine.

Notable Citizens

Randall Franks is a fiddler from Tunnell Hill who appeared in the TV series In the Heat of the Night.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Hamilton County, Tenn.
Northeast: Bradley County, Tenn.
Southeast: Whitfield County
Southwest: Walker County

Cities and Towns:

- Fort Oglethorpe	city	Incorporated Area
- Ringgold (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Rossville	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

County http://www.catoosa.com

Chamber of Commerce http://www.gatewaytogeorgia.com/

Additional County Info http://www.georgiaplanning.com/CountyPortal/countyportal.asp?FIPS=13047

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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