Just a short drive from Chattanooga is the quaint historic city of Chickamauga. It’s a great place to visit and spend your day taking in natural sites, learning about the city’s history during the Civil War, its ties to Native Americans and industry. It also offers a quaint downtown area with places to eat, antique shops, an art gallery and shops. In the heart of downtown Chickamauga near Gordon Street on Cove Road is the historic Gordon Lee Mansion. Just across the street is Crawfish Spring. Both locations are somewhat connected. According to the historical marker, “Crawfish Spring was the first name given to the modern community Chickamauga, Georgia. Cherokees lived in this area before their forced removal in 1838, with their Chickamauga District courthouse located near the spring. In the 1840s an early white settler, James Gordon used enslaved African craftsmen to build an imposing two-story brick plantation house west of the spring, located today just across this highway.” He...
Residents of Chickamauga have embraced their newest eatery - Railhead Station. Located off Gordon Street, where Phil’s Primetime Pizza used to be, the new restaurant is owned and operated by restaurateur Charlie Eich, who also owns River Drifters and Cesario’s Pizza. The food at Railhead Station features hearty hot and cold sandwiches, smoked meats, salads and pasta bowls. Eich described it as, “A smokehouse with an Italian accent.” It officially opened on Jan. 12, 2026, and so far, it’s been a hit. Each time I visited the place it was packed. People either waited for a table to open, sat at the bar, or took their meal to go and ate outside at the tables at the common area. The menu celebrates Eich’s Italian heritage combined with classic southern sandwiches featuring smoked brisket, pork belly and tenderloin, his Nonna’s house made meatballs, salami, Mortadella and Capicola. His fire box sandwiches all feature meats smoked in-house. On my first visit I ordered the Battl...