In the mid-1970s, Eastgate Center was a shopper’s paradise. You could buy a pair of trendy men’s shoes for $15 or a Hammond organ for just $440.
The Brainerd Road property, built on the site of a former outdoor movie theater, has been in a state of evolution for almost 60 years. Today, it is a mixed-use complex called Eastgate Town Center that includes state offices, college satellite classrooms, a call center and various administrative offices.
But in 1975, when this photo was taken, Eastgate was at or near the height of its popularity as a retail destination. Some of its anchor tenants in the 1970s were Miller Brothers and J.C. Penney department stores and a Morrison’s Cafeteria.
This photo, from the Chattanooga News-Free Press archives, was recently discovered at the 11th Street offices of the Chattanooga Times Free Press in a box of slides taken in the fall of 1975. The slides have been digitized and are on display at ChattanoogaHistory.com.
Chattanoogans of a certain age have vivid memories of Eastgate Center in the 1970s.