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Chattanooga, TN
Saints Peter and Paul
214 East Eight Street
Chattanooga, TN
423-266-1618
Though local Catholic tradition maintains that Mass was first celebrated in the
Chattanooga
area in June of 1540 by priests traveling with Hernando DeSoto, it was not until 1850 that
Chattanooga
’s first Catholic church was constructed. Located on Pine Street, the building served the parish until 1857 when a second church was constructed on Eighth Street on the site where the old convent now stands. Construction was underway on a third building at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Eighth Street when
Chattanooga
succumbed to Union occupation. Union troops disassembled what little stonework had been completed on the building, leaving the site in ruins. It was not until 1888 that the parish was able to re-break ground on its third and present church structure. The interior of the church includes fourteen stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Not only are the windows aesthetically impressive, but their size is remarkable, too. At thirty feet tall and seven feet wide the Tiffany windows of Sts. Peter and Paul serve as one of the crowning architectural jewels of
Chattanooga
, if not the South as a whole. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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