For much of the 20th century, the place to go for fresh produce in Chattanooga was an open-air market on 11th Street where farmers from across Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia came to sell the fruits of their labor.
It went by a couple of names: Curb Market and the 11th Street Farmers Market. It was called Curb Market because, in the old days, farmers backed their trucks onto a curb to display their farm products.
This photo is part of a collection of historic images at ChattanoogaHistory.com. Sam Hall, curator of the website, said the photo was shared by Roger Dotson, a former owner of the market. The photo was taken in 1981 when the market was still a busy hub of activity.
In the 1970s, perhaps the peak of the 11th Street Farmers Market’s popularity, up to 100 farmers a day would sell tomatoes, potatoes, peas and other vegetables (and fruits) from trucks or permanent stalls. Sales spiked during the spring, summer and fall, according to news reports, but there were some vegetable stands that remained open year-round.
Chattanooga News-Free Press reporter Merry Lynn Starling wrote in a feature story in 1978: “Today’s Farmer’s Market, or Curb Market as most people call it, is little changed from the market that was established approximately 50 years ago. The wood stalls are still there, the farmers in their overalls, the bushel baskets of farm produce. Only the prices and the farming and hauling methods have changed drastically.”