Ooltewah is an Indian word meaning "Owl´s Nest" this is where Ooltewah High School gets the team mascot the Owls. At one point Ooltewah was the county seat of James County, which was a unique venture in government and the only such instance in Tennessee history. Organized in 1871, mostly from Hamilton County and a small portion of Bradley County, its forty-eight-year history was plagued with political trouble and finally ended in bankruptcy in 1919 and was subsequently incorporated into Hamilton County.

Ooltewah just a few short years ago was a small rural town but as surrounding neighborhoods populations have grown, developers quickly moved to the Ooltewah community. Today Ooltewah is one of the fastest selling communities in the Chattanooga area. In 2006 the Chattanooga Association of Realtors MLS shows 577 homes sold in Ooltewah.

With new subdivisions seeming to spring up over night the retail segment has moved to offer residents all the convenience with restaurants, grocery stores, banks, hardware stores, and shopping with giants like Wal-Mart.

Ooltewah is home to two large golf courses, the Honors Course and Hampton Creek Golf Club. The Honors Course an 18-hole facility featuring 7,070 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72. The course designed by Pete Dye has a course rating of 75.4 and a slope rating of 151 on Zoysia grass.

Hampton Creek Golf Club is located in Hampton Creek subdivision. The course was opened in October 2004 for play. Architects for the course were Carter and Jay Morrish

With the growth of Ooltewah has come many employment opportunities some of the major ones are Wal-mart, Miller Industries, Made-Rite Sandwich Company, Cracker Barrel, Benchmark Physical Therapy, Advanced Plastics Inc, Modern Way Printing, and Remington Industries to name a few.