Picnooga, the Chattanooga Historical Society, launches a searchable historical collections website making available over 350 postcards and portraitures from Chattanooga’s past. Included is a small fraction of their collections donated and acquired over the past six years. In 2021, Picnooga hopes to have the majority of its archive accessible online. EPB sponsored the website.
“This soft launch is just the beginning of something much bigger,” said David Moon, president of the Historical Society. “We’ll be adding 120 items from our Paper Ephemera collection over the next few weeks and will be updating the resource often.”
Picnooga’s historical archive is a diverse snapshot of Chattanooga’s history from the 1850s to today. All photographs and artifacts were either crowdfunded or crowdsourced. The initial launch will include portrait examples from the 1860s to the early 20th-century. Postal and postcards range from the 1880s to the 1960s. Included are two rare metal postcards and one made from deer hide. There is also a portrait of 19th-century popular actress Sarah Bernhart at Point Park on Lookout Mountain.
Picnooga’s core mission is to bring local history to the surface and make it accessible to everyone. Since 2014, they’ve continued a dedication to preserve area history. The effort started as a Facebook page and soon became a search to find Chattanooga’s lost or misplaced history; the project turned into a registered 501(c)3 in early 2020.
The Society has been a volunteer effort from the beginning. Over the next few years, they hope to be a full-time staffed organization.
The public can browse and search through Picnooga’s collection by visiting https://collections.picnooga.org/.
Also, visit Picnooga on the web at https://picnooga.org/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/picnooga/.