In 1959, Hamilton County received 230 acres by deed from TVA for the waterfront property to be developed and maintained as a public recreational use area. County Judge Wilkes T. Thrasher was responsible for the enthusiastic endorsement of TVA’s public park proposal; with his untimely passing, his successor County Judge Chester Frost accepted the park challenge and saw it through fruition with determination and vigor. In 1979, the park’s name was officially changed from Hamilton County Park to Chester Frost Park.
Located on Chickamauga Lake, one of Tennessee’s largest lakes, Chester Frost Park includes lands formerly identified as the first county seat – Dallas Hill – 1822. Also found within the Park is Hamilton County’s first and oldest cemetery, Jackson Chapel Cemetery. In the late 1800s, the Jackson Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church was located where the park superintendent’s headquarters are now. The Jackson Chapel cemetery is at the entrance of Chester Frost Park on Gold Point Circle, the former route of Hixson Pike prior to the TVA impoundment.
Today with its amenities of camping, beach area, shelters, and a variety of open space for day-use recreation Chester Frost Park continues the commitment of maintaining a public recreational park.