Photo by Tim Barber/Times Free Press.CHICKAMAUGA, GA. (Times Free Press) -- With this year's and next year's 150th anniversary of the Civil War actions near and in Chattanooga, the new battle is one for history-vacation dollars.
As the Civil War sesquicentennial swings into high gear, park and tourism officials hope for record numbers of visitors at the nation's oldest Civil War military park -- the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Superintendent Cathy Cook says it just might be possible, judging from last year's 1,026,699 visitors.
"The last time we had hit over a million visitors was 1998," Cook said.
Even as recession slowed travel and recreation in recent years, a new National Park Service report shows that in 2010 the park had just under a million visitors, who spent $49.3 million at the park and in communities nearby.
Read more on the story from our news partners at the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
