Northgate Mall at 40
Hixson had been a community of small farms and rural homes, with the major road leading to it being two lanes. The advent of TVA, Chickamauga Dam, and DuPont caused Hixson to become more suburban.
Still, some farms remained, including the one at 5000 Hixson Pike at the intersection with Tennessee Highway 153. There, during the 1960’s, William Jesse James Sr. lived with his wife, Ollie, and son, William Jesse James, Jr. My wife recalls that her school bus passed the farm each day, and that there was a white farm house surrounded by many acres of land.
In 1971, the locally-based Independent Enterprises, which later became CBL, began construction of Northgate Mall where the James family had recently lived. The new shopping center site included one hundred twenty-five acres.
My family moved to Hixson in August, 1971, and I watched the construction each day on my school bus ride to Hixson High School. Many residents anticipated the arrival of the ninety stores of Northgate, with some being part of chains not previously represented in Chattanooga. Northgate Mall would be completely enclosed and air-conditioned, something that Eastgate would be remodeled to achieve after Northgate opened.