<P> The aptly named Summertown, located on top of the mountain, was barely accessible from a small rutted turnpike which had been built in 1852 by Colonel James A. Whiteside . Whiteside, a native of Danville, Kentucky, owned a summer home which he converted into a hotel with several cottages . Naturalists who came to the area and visited the summit, such as Bradford Torrey, thought the cottages spoiled the environment and made it look like a cheap resort . Whiteside had purchased much of the land on the mountain's summit . Another wealthy Chattanoogan, Robert Cravens, had purchased most of the land on the side of the mountain . Cravens was also instrumental in developing the area, and moved into the house he built (the Cravens House) in 1855 . Within a few years, about 25 families regularly summered on the mountain . </P> <P> Lookout Mountain's Sunset Rock was once the home to the photo shop of JB Linn . After the Union forces under Major General Joseph Hooker took over the mountain, Linn gained access to Sunset Rock (then called Point Lookout). He built a small shack there and named it "Gallery Point Lookout". In December 1863, he and his brother began taking photographs of many war commanders and officers, as well as wealthy civilians in the area . They became very successful with these pictures . The Gallery Point Lookout House is no longer in existence, but many of Linn's photographs still exist . </P> <P> On November 24, 1863, the Battle of Lookout Mountain was fought on the slopes of the mountain . The majority of hand - to - hand combat took place near Cravens' house (about halfway to the summit). Lookout Mountain's shape and location can in some conditions cause a unique weather phenomenon in the area: after dawn, fog will sometimes descend from the cooler mountaintop and stop about halfway down . Such an event took place the day of the battle and is the reason for its romanticized name, the "Battle Above the Clouds ." The battle was won by Union forces, enabling them to lift the Confederate siege of Chattanooga . </P> <P> When cases of Yellow fever began to increase in the United States, the Chattanooga population believed that the city was immune to any possibility of an epidemic because of its mountain climate . In 1878, the death of two individuals from the disease encouraged a widespread panic, causing an estimated 12,000 individuals to leave the city . A large percentage of this group went up the mountain, believing the climate would offer some protection against the disease . After the epidemic passed, many people complained about the inconvenient and complicated travel up the mountain, and the St. Elmo Turnpike (Ochs Highway) was created to help with access to the mountain . Early in the 1900s, Lookout Mountain was incorporated as a town . </P>

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