Skip to main content
Friday, October 30, 2026Oct 30
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

This story is free to read.

Remember When, Chattanooga? Why was there an open coffin on Dayton Boulevard?

Chattanooga News-Free Press file photo by John Goforth via ChattanoogaHistory.com. In 1959, the Jaycees Red Bank-White Oak chapter stops traffic on Dayton Boulevard on Safety Day. The coffin in the middle of the road is to remind motorists to slow down.
Chattanooga News-Free Press file photo by John Goforth via ChattanoogaHistory.com. In 1959, the Jaycees Red Bank-White Oak chapter stops traffic on Dayton Boulevard on Safety Day. The coffin in the middle of the road is to remind motorists to slow down. Chattanooga News-Free Press file photo by John Goforth via ChattanoogaHistory.com. In 1959, the Jaycees Red Bank-White Oak chapter stops traffic on Dayton Boulevard on Safety Day. The coffin in the middle of the road is to remind motorists to slow down.

By Mark Kennedy 3 min read

It took some effort, but we tracked down this photo in the archives of the Chattanooga News-Free Press.

The photo, taken by newspaper photographer John Goforth, was published Sept. 8, 1959, the day after Labor Day, on page 4 of the newspaper.

So, why was there a coffin in the middle of Dayton Boulevard in Red Bank?

At first, it seemed the Red Bank Theatre, also in the photo, might provide a clue. Was the popular drive-in showing a horror flick, we wondered?

Actually, no. It appears that the movie showing in early September 1959 was the romantic comedy “It Happened to Jane” starring Doris Day and Jack Lemmon.