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Remember When, Chattanooga? Hamilton Place became Tennessee’s biggest shopping complex

Contributed photo from ChattanoogaHIstory.com / This photo shows Hamilton Place mall being constructed in September 1986. The mall, billed at the time it opened in August 1987 as the largest shopping complex in Tennessee, remains a major shopping hub for Southeastern Tennessee and Northwest Georgia.
Contributed photo from ChattanoogaHIstory.com / This photo shows Hamilton Place mall being constructed in September 1986. The mall, billed at the time it opened in August 1987 as the largest shopping complex in Tennessee, remains a major shopping hub for Southeastern Tennessee and Northwest Georgia. Contributed photo from ChattanoogaHIstory.com / This photo shows Hamilton Place mall being constructed in September 1986. The mall, billed at the time it opened in August 1987 as the largest shopping complex in Tennessee, remains a major shopping hub for Southeastern Tennessee and Northwest Georgia.

By Mark Kennedy 3 min read

In 1986, the city was buzzing about the big new mall being constructed in East Brainerd.

Hamilton Place, as the mall would be called, became the largest shopping complex in Tennessee and a major pride point for people in the Chattanooga metro area.

The photo accompanying this article is an aerial view of the mall near Interstate 75 and Shallowford Road being constructed in August 1986.

The $100-million-plus, two-level mall has an asymmetrical footprint, which can be seen in this photo. The photo was donated to the ChattanoogaHistory.com website by CBL Properties, the Chattanooga real estate company that developed the mall.

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