Catoosa

Formed December 5, 1853 (99^th county)

Catoosa County (67,873), Ringgold (3,407), Fort Oglethorpe (10,340)

The Colonial Revival style red brick courthouse for the county was built in 1939.  It is located at Nashville and Maple streets.  United States Highway 41 is Nashville Street through the town.  Crutchfield & Law are the building designers.  A Justice Building augments the courthouse.  The courthouse features a small tower and veteran memorials on the grounds.  There was an 1856 courthouse also in Ringgold, the only county seat.  The county was created on December 5, 1853 from parts of Walker and Whitfield counties as the 99^th county.  The county’s name is Native American meaning either “hill” or “settlement.”  Mexican War officer Samuel Ringgold is the source for the county seat name.  The county center is 3.2 miles Southwest of Ringgold. 

Catoosa County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Thirty-two Superior Court Judges serve Catoosa, Bartow, Chattooga, Cobb, Dade, Douglas, Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Polk, Walker, and Whitfield counties and Six County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Catoosa County (judicial.) The county is in extreme northwest Georgia on the Tennessee border.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Tennessee and Whitfield and Walker counties. 

The area of the county is 162 square miles.  It is 153 of 159 in size in the state.  It ranks 35 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 419.0 persons per square mile making it 22 out of 159 in the state.  Catoosa County has 19.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 75 enters from Tennessee to the north and exits into Whitfield County to the southeast.  United States Highway 27 comes from Tennessee and goes south into Walker County.  United States Highway 41 parallels Interstate Highway 75 from Tennessee to Whitfield County.  The county is shaped like a cork.  Ringgold is located near the county center.  The county is pronounced KA-TOO-ZA.  Fort Oglethorpe is located in the northwest corner of the county and extends into Walker County.  Ringgold is the county seat and Fort Oglethorpe is the largest city.  Ringgold is 5.0% of the county population while Fort Oglethorpe is 15.2% of the county population.  The largest city is pronounced FOERT OE-GUL-THOERP.  This county is in the Chattanooga Metropolitan Statistical Area.