Most of the parts for the bridge were manufactured by Manly Jail Works of Dalton, Georgia and then shipped to the site by rail.

A former Union officer from Ann Arbor, Michigan, William Andrew Slayton (1854–1935) was the stone contractor.

It is not known if he built this house, but similarly to Washington Roebling and the Brooklyn Bridge, he could overlook the project from his window.

The "county bridge", as the Walnut Street Bridge was once known, connected the predominantly white city on the south side of the Tennessee River with the large black work force on the north side ("North Shore") in Hill City, a town that was annexed by Chattanooga in 1912.

[2] Two black men were lynched on the bridge: Alfred Blount on February 14, 1893, was hanged from the first span for allegedly attacking a white woman; Ed Johnson on March 19, 1906, was hanged from the second span, also for allegedly attacking a white woman.

The 2,376-foot-long (724 m) pedestrian bridge sits near the heart of a massive and recently completed urban renewal project.

The City Council awarded a $1.3 million contract to Tower Construction for the bridge repair work.

Every summer, Chattanooga hosts the Riverbend Festival[6] where country music and rock bands come and play for the city.