Catoosa County

Catoosa County

Catoosa County

County Formed:December 5, 1853
County Seat: Ringgold
Incorporated Cities: Fort Oglethorpe and Ringgold
Total Area: 162.2 square miles
Current Population Estimates (2009):1

  • Catoosa County – 64,035
  • Fort Oglethorpe – 9,868
  • Ringgold – 2,850

History:2

Catoosa County was created from parts of Walker and Whitfield counties. The name Catoosa is derived from the Cherokee “Gatusi,” signifying a prominent hill or point on a mountain. The name is well-suited to Catoosa County’s hilly landscape.

The Georgia Winery, famous for its muscadine wines, is located in Catoosa County.

Although Fort Oglethorpe is the larger of the two cities, Ringgold is the county seat. Part of Fort Oglethorpe lies in Walker County. The town originally was an Army training center during the two world wars. After the training center was closed in the late 1940s, the city of Fort Oglethorpe was incorporated in 1949.

Points of Interest:

The Chickamauga & Chattanooga Military Park, located in Catoosa County and Tennessee, is the oldest and largest military park in the United States. The park commemorates the Battle of Chickamauga fought in 1863. This was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War and marked the end of the Union’s first invasion of the Confederacy.

Lake Winnepesawkah is rated as one of America’s Top Ten family amusement parks by Travel and Leisure magazine.

Notable Citizens:

Randall Franks is a fiddler from Tunnell Hill who appeared in the TV series In the Heat of the Night.

Annual Events:

Some of the local festivals in Catoosa County include the 1890 Days Festival in May and the Fairy Tale Festival in Rock City held in August.

Additional Resources:

  1. Source: Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/popest.estimates.html; County Estimate Source: Table 1: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties for Georgia: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2010 (CO-EST2009-01-13) Release Date: March 2010.  Incorporated Estimate Source: Table 4: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in Georgia: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009 (SUB-EST2009-04-13) Release Date: September 2010. [↩]
  2. Georgia Department of Community Affairs [↩]