{"nrhp_refnum":"01001431","name":"Western and Atlantic Railroad Tunnel at Tunnel Hill","other_names":["Chetoogeta Mountain Tunnel","Tunnel Hill Tunnel"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Western and Atlantic Railroad","address_restricted":false,"city":"Tunnel Hill","county":"Whitfield County","state":"GA","lat":34.83863126400007,"lon":-85.03098311799994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-01-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1,477-foot antebellum railroad tunnel under Chetoogeta Mountain (Tunnel Hill Ridge), about half a mile east of Tunnel Hill in Whitfield County, Georgia. It was built in 1848-50 for the Western and Atlantic Railroad and has stone portals and a brick-vaulted interior.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the tunnel was the last link in Georgia's state-owned Atlanta-to-Chattanooga railroad and the first railroad tunnel in Georgia and the antebellum South. It is also presented as a rare, intact example of mid-19th-century tunnel engineering, built largely by hand with enslaved labor. It also had Civil War importance, though related features are not yet documented.","narrative":"Cut through Chetoogeta Mountain in northwest Georgia between 1848 and 1850, this 1,477-foot tunnel carried the Western and Atlantic Railroad beneath Tunnel Hill Ridge. Its walls combine bedrock, rough limestone and brick, topped by a brick barrel vault, and each end has a limestone portal shaped like a simplified Roman triumphal arch with marble plaques naming the governor, engineers and contractor. Crews worked largely by hand with picks, shovels and hand-drills, and many were enslaved African Americans. The tunnel completed the state-owned line between Atlanta and Chattanooga, and it is described as the first railroad tunnel in Georgia and the South. Both Confederate and Union forces fortified and fought over it during the Civil War. A larger parallel tunnel opened in 1927-28, and the original was abandoned. The City of Tunnel Hill acquired it in 1996 and has since cleared vegetation, stabilized the vault and controlled water seepage, planning public recreational use.","period_of_significance":"1850-1928","architect_builder":"William L. Mitchell, Esq., Chief Engineer; Benjamin C. Morse, Principal Assistant Engineer; B.E. Wells, Assistant Engineer; Jonathon (John) D. Gray & Co., Contractor","architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Bypassed and abandoned after a parallel tunnel was built in 1927-28; rails removed. The city owns it and is stabilizing it and converting it to a recreational and historical site.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.318202-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/01001431.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001431/f74cceee27-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001431/f74cceee27-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Civilengtiger (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DCP_0915WofA.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Civilengtiger (talk)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DCP_0915WofA.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93209935","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chetoogeta_Mountain_Tunnel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5094183"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/whitfield-county/western-and-atlantic-railroad-tunnel-at-tunnel-hill-01001431/"}