Interesting People Featured In New Book Of Old Chattanooga Photos

Interesting Chattanooga people will be featured in the new coffee table book of old Chattanooga photos sponsored by Chattanoogan.com. More Old Chattanooga Photos has been printed by College Press. It is currently being shipped from a bindery in Grand Rapids, Mich., and is set to arrive on Wednesday morning

There will be a limited edition of 500 copies, and orders are being taken now.

There are many photos of early radio and TV personalities, including the famous Luther. One shows an early staff picture at WNOO.

Others featured include the first members of the Hamilton County Commission, a poster of a famous visit to Chattanooga by Billy Graham, a Westside baseball squad whose members included future mayor Gene Roberts, and Uncle Mark Thrash, who was 23 when he finally died, .

Others featured include Dalton Roberts, the Goatman, Judge Will Cummings, Bessie Smith, Diamond King J.M. Sanders and promoter royale Joe Engel.

The book is a companion to the earlier Chattanooga in Old Photos.

Editor John Wilson said a rich collection of old pictures of the historic and scenic city initially fell into 26 distinct topics. Thirteen of those were covered in Chattanooga in Old Photos.

More Old Chattanooga Photos includes 12 chapters focusing on some of the most interesting topics. They include Chattanooga's old homes and its businesses and industries. It also includes a chapter of photos of St. Elmo and of North Chattanooga and Riverview as well as ones of Bluff View, Fort Oglethorpe, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Brainerd, and Waldens Ridge.

There are also chapters in the new book on Chattanooga's trains and trolleys and on interesting Chattanooga people.

That planned 26th chapter was Cameron Hill, and it could develop into still another photo book in the Historic Chattanooga Photos series, Mr. Wilson said.

More Old Chattanooga Photos is 246 pages in a softbound edition.

Reserve a copy of More Old Chattanooga Photos by submitting a check for $41 (includes the $6 for postage and handling) made out to John Wilson and sent to Chattanoogan.com, PO Box 2331, Chattanooga, Tn., 37409. Mark BOOKS on the envelope. You will be mailed your copy or copies as soon as it comes off the press.

Payment can also be made through Venmo to @John-Wilson-1415 (last four of phone number is 5314). Please specify BOOK, address, and phone number if using this payment method.

When the book is off the presses, there will be an opportunity to buy those directly from Mr. Wilson for local purchases of three or more copies and avoid the postage and handling charge.

More Old Chattanooga Photos is part of the Historic Chattanooga Photo Books series. No copies remain of The Remarkable Stokes Collection.

You are still able to purchase the other books in the series. They are:

Railroads In And Around Chattanooga, featuring Chattanooga's intriguing railroad history, has 69 chapters and covers rail history here and in surrounding towns. The book, with many photos by Wes Schultz, has 568 pages and 1,546 photos and maps.

Also still available are copies of Paul Hiener's Historic Chattanooga. Mr. Hiener, a longtime Chattanooga printer and lifelong resident, collected over 3,000 historic pictures of his beloved hometown. He made some of the photos available through a four-volume set called Chattanooga Yesterday and Today. The Hiener family in April 1985 donated the more than 3,000 historical Chattanooga photographs in his collection to the Chattanooga Public Library. They were eventually cataloged and are now viewable on the library's website.

The 253-page Hiener book includes over 700 photos.

Chattanooga in Old Photos includes almost 300 pages. It features hundreds of scenes from downtown, local landmarks, rivers and streams, parades, medical, banks, churches, entertainment, hotels, motels and apartments, restaurants, parks and cemeteries and auto and livery.

All the photo books are fully indexed.

The books are printed by College Press of Collegedale.

The price of each of the books is $35, which includes the sales tax. Add $6 for shipping and handling.

For the other books in the series, mail a check for $41 (includes the $6 for postage and handling) made out to John Wilson and sent to Chattanoogan.com, PO Box 2331, Chattanooga, Tn., 37409. Mark BOOKS on the envelope.