The Eagle’s Nest is a place that is often overlooked and forgotten, but it holds a rich history that is worth exploring. We first visited the Eagle’s Nest some years ago after hearing a brief mention of it on a radio show (sadly I cannot remember which one). It is an awe-inspiring place where as you stand in the middle of it, you can sort of feel the history and visualize what it was first supposed to become.
The Eagle’s Nest is located on Lookout Mountain, which is a well-known tourist destination with many popular attractions such as Ruby Falls and Rock City. However, the Eagle’s Nest is not as well-known or visited as these other attractions. The parking area at Ruby Falls, Chattanooga’s well-known cave, is full of cars just up the road, yet few people visit the quarry. This is likely due to its location, as it is covered by woods and overshadowed by more impressive Lookout Mountain attractions.
The history of the Eagle’s Nest is closely tied to that of Milton Ochs, who is not someone you hear much about. Milton Ochs may have contributed more than anybody else to the preservation of thousands of acres on the north side of Lookout Mountain, but like the quarry, he was perpetually overshadowed by others, particularly his well-knownly prosperous brother Adolph. Adolph will appear in hundreds of search results for “Milton Ochs Chattanooga,” outnumbering the few results for Milton. Adolph and another brother, George, both have pages on Wikipedia, but Milton doesn’t.
A large portion of the north end of Lookout Mountain was transformed into a park for the benefit of the general public thanks to Adolph Ochs, who at the age of 20 had borrowed $250 to buy The Chattanooga Times and later rose to the position of publisher of The New York Times. Adolph was one of those who paid Harriett Whiteside (a woman with a fascinating tale of her own) for the 16 acres at Point Park in 1887 and reopened them. Adolph moved to New York in the 1920s but started advocating the concept of the “Hanging Gardens of Lookout” while visiting Chattanooga. The eastern face would be covered in landscaped terraces from what is now Rock City to the Cravens House, with the western slopes remaining as woodland. The Tennessee River was to be pumped up to produce waterfalls down the cliffs above. According to Adolph Ochs, it would compete with the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon and turn into a modern wonder of the world.
In order to start buying land, the Chattanooga Lookout Mountain Park Association was established in 1925. By the year 1934, the area had been transferred to the federal government and was a part of Chickamauga National Military Park.
The Eagle’s Nest is a former quarry that has been left to nature, and it has a unique and eerie atmosphere. Wide sandstone steps still lead from Scenic Highway up through the forest to the aged limestone amphitheater today. Two five-foot-tall statues of eagles, one with its head missing and the other nearly as worn out, look down from the top walls’ corners. Trees and vines enhance the atmosphere of mystery and abandonment. Low stone walls surround a tiny pool that was supposed to be stocked with water lilies and adorned with a fountain below, at the top of another set of wide stairs on the quarry floor. The pool currently resembles a kind of sunken altar because it is dry and overgrown.
Shakespeare’s bust, which was supposed to be the first of many statues honoring notable Chattanoogans and inspirational persons, is all.
The quarry’s name today was not given to the intimidating eagles without some dispute. They were sculpted by Spefano Giuliano and painted a vivid blue. It might not be a coincidence that Roosevelt’s National Industrial Recovery Act, a component of the New Deal that sought to regulate industry and stress fair labor practices, had a nearly identical blue eagle as its emblem.
Aside from the peculiarity of the eagles’ appearance in relation to the other ruins, there is no interpretative plaque or explanation of the eagles today. The water bars and stairs on the trail that surrounds the quarry may occasionally need to be cleared and repaired, but for the most part, nature is reclaiming the area ruthlessly, which only adds to the mystery.
Was it Milton Och’s idea to landscape and make the mountain’s slopes accessible to the public, or was he just a responsible sibling carrying out Adolph’s instructions? Milton claimed that Adolph “thought it, planned it, and financed it,” but considering his brother’s stature, it would have been smart to make that claim. Milton gave the credit to his brother in his testimony to Congress.
William Raoul, who grew up on the mountain and witnessed the construction of the park, was persuaded that Milton, not Adolph, came up with the idea. Milton was widely thought to be the interested party, according to Raoul. It was claimed that Milton had convinced his brother to pay for the park when he was named Man of the Year by the Kiwanis Club in 1948 (more than 20 years after Adolph had gotten the same accolade). And in his description of the Kiwanis event, Alfred Mynders noted that “Milton Ochs provided the time and the dreams, while Adolph Ochs provided the money.”
Regardless of who received credit, Milton Ochs handled land purchases, presided over committee meetings, and oversaw the massive endeavor that allowed us to climb at Sunset Rock, run or hike 40 miles of trail, or mountain bike the Upper Truck Trail today.
Milton Ochs dedicated his life to helping others, despite not enjoying his brother’s level of popularity. He sent handwritten notes to elderly folks and attended funerals of people he had never met. He organized food, clothing, and disaster relief campaigns as well as initiatives to construct highways, construct structures, and establish memorials. Ironically, Milton didn’t appear all that much in the past; he later published a daily column for The Chattanooga Times titled “Looking Backward.”
That old, strange quarry with the crumbling eagles has a humble magnificence.
If you choose to visit “The Eagles Nest at Lookout Mountain” I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Directions are available at the link above.
Ruby Falls and The Eagles Nest are both located right off Scenic Highway. A trail runs into the quarry’s base from the highway, where it is possible for one or two cars to park. Driving across the upper Ruby Falls parking lot to the far northern end will take you to much better parking options.
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