Camp Contraband

Camp Contraband was a Civil War encampment in Chattanooga that became a haven for a large number of refugees, most of them liberated slaves seeking safety within Union lines. Former slaves were hired to do most of the manual labor to build military buildings, a military bridge, roads, railways, stockades, and stables in Chattanooga during the war, but they were not allowed to live on the south side of the river. The camp was also where Black troops, of whom there were many, were quartered, and these soldiers had an excellent combat record. At the start of the war, the population was about 2,500 people, and by the end of the war there was more than twice that number of African American refugees in the camps. Many residents of Camp Contraband gradually moved to higher ground away from the river, creating Hill City, one of the city's oldest post Civil War African American neighborhoods.

Chattanooga, Tennessee · United States