Walnut Street Bridge Repairs Bring Up Ugly Memories

Popular with pedestrians and the location of the premier wine festival of the south, the Walnut Street Bridge is no doubt a key tourist attraction of the scenic city.

Tuesday night at city council, much needed renovations were on the table for discussion.

"We haven’t had a full inspection since it was renovated early back in the 1990’s," said Chattanooga city councilman Chip Henderson. "We asked Volkert to come in and do a full inspection all the way to the river floor and we found some deficiencies in a place or two that we need to address."

City council paid Volkert 236 thousand dollars to do deep underwater inspections of the bridge and to write a contract detailing the work that needs to be completed.

"The steel that’s under the decking, some of the mortar joints around the piers will need to be pointed up," Henderson said. "Some of the mortar has deteriorated and is coming out. It’s crumbled. We need to make sure it’s pointed up so water doesn’t seep into the piers and cause any further damage."

It’s beauty and scenic vistas are undisputed.

But what is disputed is how the history of this bridge is handled.

Two African-American men were lynched from this bridge, both for allegedly attacking white women.

Ed Johnson was one of those men hung in 1906, but his trial was highly suspect with very little evidence used to convict him.

There are zero plaques on the bridge memorializing these lynchings.

"As we renovate and continue to support the existence of the Walnut Street Bridge we must also educate and continue to preserve the memories of the people who lost their lives there," said historian and principal of Orchard Knob Elementary School Lafrederick Thirkill.