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Remember When, Chattanooga? Who recalls the Martin Theater and the Planter’s Peanut man on Market Street?

From the vantage point of this photograph facing south on Market Street from Sixth Street, such landmarks at the old Martin Theater and the Hotel Patten (now the Patten Towers Apartments) are visible. / Photo via EPB courtesy of chattanoogahistory.com. From the vantage point of this photograph facing south on Market Street from Sixth Street, such landmarks at the old Martin Theater and the Hotel Patten (now the Patten Towers Apartments) are visible. / Photo via EPB courtesy of chattanoogahistory.com.

By Mark Kennedy November 12, 2021 3 min read

On a summer night in 1964, Market Street in downtown Chattanooga was a canyon of streetlights and neon.

From the vantage point of this photograph facing south on Market Street from Sixth Street, such landmarks at the old Martin Theater and the Hotel Patten (now the Patten Towers Apartments) are visible.

Also visible in the photo are Penney’s department store, Zale’s jewelers, Haverty’s Furniture and the Planter’s Peanuts store, among other establishments.

This photograph is part of a collection of mid-century EPB images found at ChattanoogaHistory.com, a website devoted to digitizing and preserving vintage photographs of the city. The website is curated by history enthusiast Sam Hall.

In the 1960s, downtown Chattanooga was a bustling shopping destination. If you could hop a time machine back to 1964, you could find some real bargains. In 1964, women’s sleeveless dresses at J.C. Penney Co. were $12.95. Meanwhile, a men’s seersucker suit that summer went for $25 at the department store, and little girls’ dresses sold for $4-$8.