Lookout Mountain Mirror
Share your
news with us!
  • Home
  • Happenings
    • Lookout Community
    • School News
    • TN & GA Town News
    • Home & Garden
    • Local History
    • Good Reads
    • Recipe Roundup
    • Arts & Leisure
    • Travel
    • Movies with Merrile
    • Happenings at the Club
  • Advertising
  • Calendar
  • Subscriptions
  • About
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • Give & Support

Lookout Mountain
​Happenings

Check back often for up-to-date news, events and article previews between issues of the monthly Lookout Mountain Mirror.

Follow us on Facebook for more news

Cravens House Christmas Program is Dec. 2 and 3

11/28/2016

0 Comments

 
PictureChris Bailey and Chrisi Hopper put finishing touches on a Christmas tree at Cravens House.
by Candace Chazen
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will sponsor the Historic Cravens House Christmas Program on December 2 and 3. There will a living historical interpretation of how a traditional Christmas could have been observed on this very site. The National Park Service relies on the talents of the Lookout Mountain Beautiful Garden Club to make the transformation of the Cravens House a magical Christmas event. Chairwomen Mrs. Glynda Warren and Mrs. Chris Bailey researched extensively to understand the décor of that era, and their findings might very well surprise you.  

Instead of rustic decorations, Christmas in America in the 1860s was under the Victorian influence of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, who loved the extremely sophisticated German affects of the day. By the time of the Civil War, families were sending Christmas cards to faraway family members and friends, and these cards, portraying Victorian scenes of Christmases past, were saved and used as paper chains around the tree. Gold and silver garlands, made from foil chocolate wrappers, adorned the tree, and ladies searched their sewing boxes to make silk and velvet ornaments. Fruits were dipped in sugar to provide a little sparkle, and angels were seen throughout the homes, watching over the families. Knitted stockings danced in front of the fireplace, waiting to be filled with oranges, candy and nuts. Along with replicating these realistic decorations, the Lookout Mountain Beautiful Garden Club members will cut greenery and flowers native to Lookout Mountain to decorate the Cravens’ House: magnolia; fir; holly; beauty berries; spruce; pine; hydrangea and nandina.

Robert Cravens (1805-1888) was a pioneer Chattanooga industrialist who helped organize the East Tennessee Iron Manufacturing Company, chartered in 1847. This company consisted of a blast furnace and a foundry with a machine shop for the manufacture of both railroad engines and freight cars. He built the first blast furnace, which was coke-fueled, in Chattanooga, and it still remains operational.
In 1854, Robert Cravens purchased 1,000 acres, where he maintained orchards, grew cotton and built an L-shaped summer home, which he called “Alta Vista” because of its magnificent views. His home became the site for the Civil War’s “Battle Above The Clouds” on Nov. 24, 1863. This historic landmark witnessed some of the most intense and decisive fighting of the Civil War. His home, which was the only remaining Civil War-era structure on the mountain, was used as a headquarters for both armies. On Nov. 24, 1863, Union troops took possession of the Cravens House from the Confederates and it became the headquarters for Gen. W.C. Whitaker’s command. The Union soldiers used the floorboards, siding, walls and ceiling boards for firewood. The monotony of camp life caused many soldiers to stray to less desirable activities, and there was more and more fighting, gambling and drinking in the camp. The house was burned down by a Union soldier in a drunken brawl, but Cravens rebuilt in the style it is today in 1866.  

War encampments brought disease, starvation, lack of clean water and death in these cold desolate months for both Confederate and Union soldiers. Soldiers in cold bleak winter quarters were reminded more acutely than ever of the domestic bliss they had left behind by the letters and packages from home during the Christmas holidays.  

As the guests of the Craven House step back into the holiday season of the Civil War soldiers and their families, one can imagine the air of profound melancholy that had settled over our entire nation.

The Lookout Mountain Beautiful Garden Club will decorate Craven’s House exquisitely as a “Designer Showcase Christmas House” illuminating the Civil War period. Tickets are free, but limited, and last year many were turned away. To make a reservation, and for more information about this event, please contact the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at (423) 821-7786. Tours begin at 6 p.m. each day, and run every 30 minutes until 8:30 p.m.

You will be captivated by the beauty of the city lights glistening in the distance as you step back in time to experience a vivid glimpse of a Victorian Civil War Christmas.  

For more information about upcoming programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, please contact the Lookout Mountain Visitor Center at (423) 821-7786, the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at (706) 866-9241, or visit the park’s website at www.nps.gov/chch.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Article Categories

    All
    Arts
    Business
    Chattanooga
    Church
    Education
    Educational
    Family Friendly
    Festival
    Food
    Fundraiser
    Garden Club
    Government
    History
    Holidays
    Jobs
    Lookout Mountain
    Nonprofit
    Outdoors
    Riverview
    Shopping
    Sports


    Archives

    January 2023
    September 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015

    RSS Feed

Stay up-to-date

Join our email list today for the latest news and events between issues!

Contact US

Mailing address: P.O. Box 99 Lookout Mountain, TN 37350
Physical address: 112 N. Watauga, Lookout Mountain, TN 37350
p. (423) 822-6397
Visit our sister paper: Signal Mountain Mirror

Stay Connected