Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, and the Chattanooga Rail Road

The development of railroads in America coincided with the development of lithography printmaking. Not surprisingly, prints of trains became popular with railroad enthusiasts. This beautiful landscape with a train nestled in a valley offers an idyllic picture of industrialized transportation amid nature. Lookout Mountain, located near the Tennessee River and state line beside the northwest corner of Georgia, was the site of several battles during the Revolutionary War and Civil War. By the time this print was made, peace had replaced combat, and tourists were traveling by train to the Chattanooga area to enjoy the great scenic beauty of Lookout Mountain.

Nathaniel Currier, who established his successful New York-based lithography firm in 1835, produced thousands of hand-colored prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life. Expansion led, in 1857, to a partnership with James Merritt Ives (1824–1895); thereafter the firm was called Currier & Ives. People eagerly acquired Currier & Ives lithographs, such as those featuring spectacular American landscapes like this one, or rural and city views, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. Although it was unusual for a woman to achieve such prominence in a printing firm, Frances Flora (Fanny) Palmer was one of the most important artists working for Nathaniel Currier, and later Currier and Ives, between 1849 and 1868, when she produced approximately 200 of the firm's best landscapes and most engaging scenes of daily life.