For more than 100 years, Loveman’s department store was a downtown Chattanooga institution.
History sources tell us that Loveman’s was Chattanooga’s largest department store when it opened in the 1880s at the corner of 8th and Market streets. The store recovered from a fire in 1891, and by the WWI era it employed about 300 people. The company eventually opened satellite stores in the suburbs culminating in the opening of a branch at Hamilton Place mall in 1987.
Loveman’s was bought by Proffitt’s in 1988, which in turn sold it to the Belk chain.
In this photo from the Chattanooga Free Press archives, taken in 1960, Loveman’s was still part of a bustling downtown shopping district. Also visible in the photo – along with a river of pedestrian traffic – are such downtown stores Pickett’s and Kress along with the Rogers Theater and the Patten Hotel.
“This scene represents the kind of photos that become more interesting over time,” said Sam Hall, curator of ChattanoogaHistory.com. “In 1960, and for years to come, it would be seen as unremarkable. Now we feast our eyes on all the tidbits of the past. I should also remind everyone we can still create gifts for future generations by taking such ‘boring’ photos today.”