Our Town: Dunlap
DUNLAP, Tenn. (WDEF) — We love our Chattanooga home, but there are so many just as special towns that surround us here in the Scenic City.
News 12’s Lindsey Jenkins visited Dunlap, Tennessee to give us a look at this month’s “Our town.”
Just across Signal Mountain lies the quaint southern town of Dunlap Tennessee- right in the heart of the Sequatchie Valley.
“The beauty of the mountains and the valley cause it’s kind of a one-of-a-kind place and then it’s still got the small-town feel,” said Lynn Lewis.
“Sequatchie Valley is so beautiful that people come over that mountain on 111 and they say, Oh, this is beautiful. and they buy land here and move here, said Anna Faye Heard.
“It’s probably one of the most breathtaking sights that you’ll ever see, said Dunlap Chief of Police.
At a population of 5,455, a majority of the community consists of generations of families, and longtime friends.
“Most of us have been here for generations and generations and everybody knows everybody for the most part,” said Jenna Johnson Lafevor, the owner of Johnson 7 and Local Lepot.
“A lot of us know each other. We’re all connected in some way.”
From farmers to artists, policeman to hairdressers- the town has citizens of all different backgrounds with one thing in common- a great love for their hometown.
“The slower pace of life in itself exist is still exist here. We’re all living in this modern age of, you know, the cell phone and the social media and the internet. But, you know, here we still know our neighbors. We still speak to our neighbors, we go to church, with lifelong friends and we make friendships that last.”
Dunlap was founded in 1858, but just under 50 years later, the town was used for coal mining.
“They would bring it down off the mountain and make charcoal in the and ovens and that’s how they made charcoal. They’d use it the foundries in Chattanooga, to run the foundaries for steel.”
Another memory that many recalled being fond of- even myself- was spending time fishing at the Cookston Cove Trout Farm, which is now known as Picketts Trout Ranch.
“I love watching a kid watch their fire cast their first fish. It’s incredible. It’s just the parents light up, and they’ll help that little kid, and it’s a treat it really is fun to see.”
Or their annual Fourth of July Parade.
“The population of the town over doubles that day. It’s the biggest celebrated holiday around here”
Growing up, when my mother would drive me over the mountain and through the woods to grandmother’s house, she would tell me that this place was more than home… it was God’s country- as I learned- the place that made her the kind and good-hearted woman she is today.
“Dunlap is more than just… it’s a place I’ll always remember.”
The small town is just about 45 minutes northwest of Chattanooga, but what makes it unique is the unreal scenic views and a community who will welcome just about anyone in, as if they were already family.
