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Remember When, Chattanooga? Did anyone you know attend Alton Park Baptist Church?

Members of the Alton Park Baptist Church are shown in 1933. Twenty-three years later the church was downgraded to a chapel due to a loss of membership. Contributed photo from ChattanoogaHistory.com.
Members of the Alton Park Baptist Church are shown in 1933. Twenty-three years later the church was downgraded to a chapel due to a loss of membership. Contributed photo from ChattanoogaHistory.com. Members of the Alton Park Baptist Church are shown in 1933. Twenty-three years later the church was downgraded to a chapel due to a loss of membership. Contributed photo from ChattanoogaHistory.com.

By Mark Kennedy 3 min read

This 1933 photo taken outside Alton Park Baptist Church at 4401 Ohls Ave. shows a thriving congregation in the middle of the Great Depression.

The photo, part of a collection of images at ChattanoogaHistory.com, was taken on April 30, 1933, at a time when the church was under the leadership of the Rev. T.J. Smith. A few months earlier, a special service had been held to honor Smith for a decade of church growth.

“About 400 members have been added to the church rolls since the coming of the Rev. Mr. Smith (in the early 1920s),” the Chattanooga Daily Times reported on Feb. 11, 1933.

Sam Hall, curator of the local history website, said the panoramic photo appears to have been taken using a “Cirkut Camera,” a technology dating to 1905 that was a popular format for photos of large groups.

“A motor would turn in one direction while the film roll pivots in the other direction,” Hall explained, noting that these cameras had greater resolution than many of today’s sophisticated digital cameras.