Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Taktsang Lhakhang, also known as the “Tiger’s Nest”.
Bhutan • 11 days, 10 nights
Festivals & Temples of Bhutan
from
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
The ‘Old Secretariat’ government building in New Delhi.
The 'Old Secretariat'
This set is inspired by a Roman arena.
Bozdağ Film Platolari
The Sea Water Distilling Plant.
Sea Water Distilling Plant
Contemplative paths.
Ayo Rock Formations
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
The truth is out there—somewhere.
The Truth Is Out There at the Dreamland Resort (or Should We Say ‘Area 51?’)
19 days ago
Edward Payson Weston
How the 6-Day Race Became an American Spectator Obsession
20 days ago
Alresford Spy Toilet
This Public Bathroom in a Sleepy English Village Was an Epicenter for Cold War Espionage
22 days ago
Manhattan Well
The Manhattan Well: How Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton United to Solve a Murder Mystery
23 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Tennessee Chattanooga International Towing and Recovery Museum

International Towing and Recovery Museum

This museum dedicated to an oft-overlooked support industry features a surprisingly moving brass diorama of a man being saved from a sinking car.

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Added By
goofoolio
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
International Towing and Recovery Museum   Joel Kramer on Flickr
International Towing and Recovery Museum   Joel Kramer on Flickr
International Towing and Recovery Museum   Joel Kramer on Flickr
International Towing and Recovery Museum   Joel Kramer on Flickr
International Towing and Recovery Museum   Joel Kramer on Flickr
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
World’s Fastest Wrecker   petracca5 / Atlas Obscura User
1913 Locomobile with 485 Holmes wrecker   petracca5 / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Just when you think you've seen a museum dedicated to everything under the sun, you stumble across the International Towing and Recovery Museum which devotes itself to celebrating the history of towing and vehicle recovery including the technology involved and those that who have died in the quest to clear roads and save lives.

According to the museum, it was in 1916 that the first tow truck was invented in the city of Chatanooga, Tennessee, and it was this American innovation that sparked an entire industry (and arguably culture) of vehicle recovery that has only grown and evolved to today. Starting as a traveling exhibition in the 1980's the collection displayed trucks, artifacts, and exhibits about the history of towing. Then in 1995, the official museum opened right in the heart of Chattanooga, where it all began.

Today the collection has grown, and was moved to the larger space of its current home in 2006. Restored antique salvage trucks and cranes are arrayed across the show floor accented by exhibits featuring artifacts and ephemera from the proud industry's history. The most arresting of the displays, the Wall of the Fallen, was installed outside the museum in 2006. The memorial honors those who lost their lives in the service of recovery. It features a name wall not unlike a military memorial, which surrounds a small pool out of which juts a bronze statue showing a man pulling a dangling man from the water. A single automobile taillight juts from the water as though sinking beneath the waves.

Most people get pretty upset when their car gets towed, but maybe a visit to the Towing Museum could get them to rethink the human cost of removing a vehicle.  

Related Tags

Automotive History Industrial Museums And Collections Museums

Community Contributors

Added By

goofoolio

Edited By

EricGrundhauser, petracca5, Collector of Experiences

  • EricGrundhauser
  • petracca5
  • Collector of Experiences

Published

October 23, 2014

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
International Towing and Recovery Museum
3315 Broad Street
Chattanooga, Tennessee, 37408
United States
35.016992, -85.323582
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Ruby Falls

Chattanooga, Tennessee

miles away

Lookout Mountain Incline Railway

Lookout Mountain, Tennessee

miles away

Songbirds Foundation

Chattanooga, Tennessee

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Chattanooga

Chattanooga

Tennessee

Places 10
Stories 2

Nearby Places

Ruby Falls

Chattanooga, Tennessee

miles away

Lookout Mountain Incline Railway

Lookout Mountain, Tennessee

miles away

Songbirds Foundation

Chattanooga, Tennessee

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Chattanooga

Chattanooga

Tennessee

Places 10
Stories 2

Related Stories and Lists

The Hidden Wonders of Chattanooga

List

Sponsored by Chattanooga Tourism

Related Places

  • Can’t forget the firetruck.

    Harrisville, West Virginia

    Cliff’s Museum of Car Memorabilia

    A lifetime collection of thousands of automobile and vintage gas station items at no charge to view.

  • Brussels, Belgium

    Autoworld

    From motorcycles to firetrucks and sports cars to horse-drawn carriages, this Belgian collection goes beyond rare cars.

  • 1938 Alfa Romeo SC2900B MM

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum

    Collection of scores of race cars from the 1900s to recent lovingly maintained and displayed.

  •  The 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air Bubble Top was such an icon, that even the Beach Boys sang its praises. Their song “409,” appeared on both their 1962 album Surfin’ Safari and 1963’s Little Deuce Coupe.

    Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

    Wheels of Yesteryear

    From the 1940 Ford Coupe that started it all 50 years ago, this collection of over 150 classic vehicles celebrates the spirit and history of American car craft.

  • A bust of Xavier Jouvin and his invention, the “iron hand.”

    Grenoble, France

    Musée de la Ganterie (Museum of Glove-Making)

    The cellar of a former factory is now home to a collection of gloves, machines, and tools of the trade.

  • The American Museum of Cutlery.

    Cattaraugus, New York

    American Museum of Cutlery

    This edgy museum will whet your appetite for the industrial history of Western New York.

  • Steam engines.

    Meridian, Mississippi

    Soulé Steam Feed Works

    The last intact steam engine factory in the United States.

  • The museum.

    Fakenham, England

    Fakenham Museum of Gas and Local History

    The last gas works in England and Wales details how people once extracted the resource from coal.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.