History
The oldest known owner dates back to the early 1900s. Tom Morgan owned some 320 acres (1/2 the section). Mr. Morgan “bread mules, broke them,” and sold many to the Army. The old log “Jack” barn was located on Lot 73 which is 6459 Paw Paw Trail. Mr. Morgan sold the farm to Dave L. Brown around 1930 for $1,800.00. Mr. Brown operated a “rock crusher.” It was located near the end of Paw Paw Trail. Mr. Brown sold the farm to Sam Smith, who lived across the road from Hiawatha Estates Subdivision entrance. Mr. Brown sold the property to Tom Martin (owner of One-Hour Martinizing Company). Mr. Martin then sold to prominent Chattanooga physician, Dr. Gass, who was the owner when the government (Agriculture Department) planted pine trees. The property was then purchased by Harry and Bill Hulsey in the early 1970s and they developed the subdivision.
Getting Organized
There were very few homes in Hiawatha Estates in 1976. There were several buildings; an old house on Lot 73 that was later burned (hippies resided in it); a barn on what is now Chris and Aimee Maschhoff’s residence. An old log barn used to stable brood mares was near where the creek runs into the pond.
We organized an Association in the mid-70s. Some original officers included Don Beard, Treasurer; Peggy Linder; Charlotte Ziegler; Brother Henry Preston; Jim Webster; John Thompson, and Rudy Shelton as President. Marty Leavitt, Attorney at Law, lived on Hideaway Road and developed our original charter. We held our meetings at the Ooltewah Middle School and had interesting speakers.
Work We’ve Done
We had our defining moment as a subdivision association when the horse show arena owned by a Mr. Hawk, was about to be sold to Culp Manufacturing Company. We came together, to try to stop this sale and proposed a manufacturing plant. We raised the money, hired lawyers, appeared at hearings, and did, in fact, stop this sale. There was a lot of time, money, and volunteers involved in this effort.
We managed to secure three streetlights, one at the entrance, one at Hideaway, and one at Paw Paw. Since then, we added lights at the entrance, additional streetlights throughout the subdivision, and water at the subdivision entrance for ease in caring for the entrance plants.
Following a devastating fire on Paw Paw Trail, we realized fire hydrants had not been placed on Hideaway Road during construction. We engaged the county to help us assess the situation. Officials determined two additional hydrants should be placed in the subdivision on that road.