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Remember When, Chattanooga? Did you ever visit this lunch counter at Market and 7th streets?

This 1953 photo of the lunch counter at Liggett Drug Store on the corner of 7th and Market streets features a building that is now the headquarters of the United Way of Greater Chattanooga. Photo by Chattanooga Free Press Photographer Bob Sherrill. Contributed by ChattanoogaHistory.com.
This 1953 photo of the lunch counter at Liggett Drug Store on the corner of 7th and Market streets features a building that is now the headquarters of the United Way of Greater Chattanooga. Photo by Chattanooga Free Press Photographer Bob Sherrill. Contributed by ChattanoogaHistory.com. This 1953 photo of the lunch counter at Liggett Drug Store on the corner of 7th and Market streets features a building that is now the headquarters of the United Way of Greater Chattanooga. Photo by Chattanooga Free Press Photographer Bob Sherrill. Contributed by ChattanoogaHistory.com.

By Mark Kennedy 3 min read

Liggett Drug Store, pictured in this 1953 newspaper photograph, was located at the corner of 7th and Market streets for more than 40 years.

Liggett’s occupied the building at 630 Market St. from 1920 to 1962. It’s now the home of United Way of Greater Chattanooga.

This photo, contributed by ChattanoogaHistory.com, was taken by Chattanooga Free Press photographer Bob Sherrill. ChattanoogaHistory.com is a website featuring vintage images of the city and is curated by local history enthusiast Sam Hall.

The history of Liggett Drug Store in Chattanooga dates to 1920, according to newspaper archives, when the Market Street pharmacy was purchased by the Liggett Drug Co. of New York. Previously, it had been called the Live and Let Live Drug Store, and it had a local owner.

At the time of the purchase, Liggett Drug Co. boasted over 200 locations nationwide, including stores in Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans. The company was started by Louis K. Liggett, a former traveling salesman, who founded the chain in 1903.