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Finding hidden gems in 30,000 pages of historic Chattanooga newspapers

Chattanooga Daily Times

The front page of The Chattanooga Daily Times on Friday, April 6., 1877 (Photo: ChattanoogaNewspapers.org)

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“There is no disputing the fact that Chattanooga did celebrate the Glorious Fourth in a glorious manner … the streets were thronged in the morning and all pronounced the parade one of the best ever seen in the city.”

The festive description of a Fourth of July celebration in 1895 above is just one of countless historic nuggets we found in more than 6,000 pages of historical Chattanooga newspapers that were made available online last year.

Now, a year later, ChattanoogaNewspapers.org features almost 30,000 scanned pages from 1830 to 1919. The project is a partnership between Sam Hall (ChattanoogaHistory.com) and David Moon of Picnooga.

Newspapers were like the social media of the time. All of the stuff you’d post on your page — birthdays, vacations and promotions — were published in the daily newspapers.

So, we want you to help us dig + send us what you find. And there’s plenty to find like this malt extract that can help you lift a horse.

An ad from Chattanooga Press

JohannHoff’s Malt Extract was one of many pseudoscientific ads found in turn of the century newspapers. (Photo: ChattanoogaNewspapers.org)

Question

What strange/interesting things can you find?

Spend some time browsing through the archives + email us your finds and comments at Hello@NOOGAtoday.com. We’ll share some of your discoveries in a future newsletter.


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