Points of Interest
There are eighteen miles of trails within the Town that loop from Shackleford Ridge Park through Prentice Cooper State Forest and connect to other Town parks. In addition, many miles of trails for hiking, trail running and mountain biking are also situated just north of the Town in Prentice Cooper State Forest.
The Signal Mountain Historic District dates from the early twentieth century to before WWII. Elegant period homes stand side-by-side summer cottages on tree-lined streets. A portion of the old trolley tracks that ferried summer residents up and down the mountain can still be seen on James Boulevard where an original sheltered trolley stop has been preserved.
The oldest commercial retail building in the Town is located at 712 Signal Mountain Boulevard. It was built in 1912 as a commissary for the mountain. It was famous in its day for a tribe of yellow cats with six toes on their front feet. One tenant, known as “George, my barber” ran his shop in the west end of the building until the 1960’s. He began his career cutting hair at the old Inn.
The Signal Mountain Land Company office located at 302 James Boulevard was built in 1912 and in 1915 became the Town’s first Post Office. It operated until the 1950’s when it became the first site of the Signal Mountain Library. Signal Mountain Grammar School at 806 Kentucky Avenue, built of local mountain stone, was dedicated in 1926. It served as the town as a school until 1999 when it was transformed into the Mountain Arts Community Center.
Located just outside the Town limits is the Mountain Opry described by the New York Times as “...the place to be on Friday nights...” for those who enjoy “knee-slapping bluegrass and old time mountain music”. The Toll House (now a museum) is located just up the road from the Opry. Tolls were once collected there from mountain farmers using the road to cross the mountain to deliver stock and crops to market in Chattanooga.