(Lived 1845-January 15, 1891)

A native of Illinois who grew up in Ohio, John Hart moved to Montgomery, Alabama in the 1850s.  Hart returned to the north to join the Union Army in 1861.  Following the Civil War, Hart returned to Montgomery.  Elected to the state senate, Hart served as speaker of the senate.  While in Alabama, Hart invested in several failed railroad ventures, losing most of his money.  Hart moved to Chattanooga in 1869 and began work at the Chattanooga Times.  Upon his father’s death, Hart received an inheritance that allowed him to invest in a partnership with John F. Loomis to begin the Loomis & Hart Lumber Company in 1875. 

Hart ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1878, before being elected to serve as Mayor for 1881.