Parks and Recreation - Historical Notes

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Tennessee Code Annotated
Tennessee Attorney General Opinions

Acts of 1891, Chapter 21, was an act to cede the jurisdiction of the State of Tennessee to the United States of America over all such roads as were described therein and lay within the territorial limits of the state, for the purposes of a national park known as the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Park, pursuant to the act of congress, entitled “An Act to establish a National Military Park at the battle-field of Chickamauga,” approved August 19, 1890. The cession was conditioned upon the State of Tennessee retaining a concurrent jurisdiction with the United States over said roads with respect to all civil and criminal process issued under the authority of the state, whereby said process might be executed upon as if this act had not been passed; and that nothing was to interfere with the jurisdiction of the United States over any matter set out in the act of congress or with any laws, rules or regulations that congress might thereafter adopt for the preservation and protection of the ceded property.
Acts of 1895, Chapter 2, was an act to cede the jurisdiction of the State of Tennessee over additional territory lying along both sides of the roads ceded in the previous act, to the United States of America, for the purpose of widening said roads. The additional land consisted of the following tracts: Orchard Knob, a tract of seven acres in the outskirts of Chattanooga; a tract of three acres, more or less, on Missionary Ridge, known as Bragg’s headquarters; a tract of five acres on Missionary Ridge, known as the DeLong place; and an agreement for the purchase of the extreme north point of Missionary Ridge. The cession was conditional, similar to the previous cession.
Acts of 1899, Chapter 251, was an act to enlarge and extend the provisions of the previous Act, to cover an additional tract of land on Lookout Mountain, known as Point Park, to be held and constitute a part of the National Military Park. The 1895 act was extended and made applicable to Point Park, and the jurisdiction of the state was ceded to the United States over said Point Park to the same extent and upon the same conditions in all respects as the cession of jurisdiction in said act.