In 1887, Henry Clay Beck, then Register of Hamilton County, saw a need in the young city known as Chattanooga. Prior to that time, when a person purchased property, research was done by an abstract company and given to a lawyer, who only offered his opinion as to whether title to the property was good. Thus, the title opinion was only as good as the lawyer.
Mr. Beck saw a need for a company that would actually insure the title to a piece of real estate.  The Title Guaranty and Trust Company of Chattanooga was born. In fact, Title Guaranty was the first title insurance company south of Philadelphia.
Today, with its downtown offices in the building the company has called home since 1925, its East Brainerd office on Lee Highway, and its Cleveland location, Title Guaranty and Trust remains the only title insurance underwriter with its headquarters in Tennessee. |
