Union forces, enabling them to lift the Confederate siege of Chattanooga. After the Civil War Yellow fever epidemic When cases of Yellow fever began to increase in the United States, the Chattanooga population believed that the city was immune to any possibility of an epidemic because of its mountain climate. In 1878, two local residents died of the disease, throwing the city into a panic that led some 12,000 people to flee. Many of these went up the mountain, believing the climate would offer some protection against the disease. After the epidemic passed, many people complained about the inconvenient and complicated travel up the mountain, and the St. Elmo Turnpike (Ochs Highway) was created to help with access to the mountain. Early in the 1900s, Lookout Mountain was incorporated as a town. Twentieth-century tourist boom The twentieth century saw some wealthy businessmen settle permanently on the mountain, but its attraction as a tourist destination also grew. Entrepreneurs — among them Garnet Carter, J. B. Pound, O. B. Andrews, and Leo Lambert — began developing, improving, and marketing attractions in the 1910s and 1920s. Today, tourist attractions include: Battle of Lookout Mountain Museum: soldier figurines and topographical maps. Lookout Mountain Incline Railway: a National Historic site, the railroad has an incline of 72.7%. Rock City: trails laid of rock with various attractions, including Lover's Leap, Balanced Rock and Fat Man's Squeeze. Ruby Falls: a cave with a 145-foot waterfall deep inside the mountain. References External links City of Lookout Mountain, Georgia Lookout Mountain, Tennessee Ridges of Alabama Ridges of Tennessee Ridges of Georgia (U.S. state) Landforms of DeKalb County, Alabama Landforms of Walker County, Georgia Landforms of Hamilton County, Tennessee Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park