In the early years of the 20th century, Chattanooga’s live entertainment scene included a vaudeville theater called the Airdome.
The accompanying image of the Airdome on Broad Street is a scan of a print found recently at the offices of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Handwritten notes on the back of the photo indicate it was taken in 1911, and it shows a vaudeville team called “Foster and Fuzzy” posed in front of the building. The photo’s origin and the name of the photographer are unknown.
Vaudeville-style theaters, which thrived before modern motion picture houses exploded in popularity in the United States in the 1920s, often featured comedians, dancers, singers and novelty acts. The Airdome here billed itself as a “polite vaudeville” theater, a family-friendly alternative to some of the bawdier productions associated with the genre.
The first mentions of the Airdome in Chattanooga newspaper archives date from May 1909, when the Chattanooga Daily Times reported an acrobat had been injured in a fall at the theater. The article detailed how “Miss Nellie LeMoth” fell from atop a human pyramid, sustaining minor injuries.