41Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Chattanooga History Archives
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Chattanooga.
1838 to 1912Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
61,104Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Get to know Chattanooga, Tennessee in earlier years through the newspapers shared in the Chattanooga History Archives' digital archive. Its forty-one titles include material from 1838 to 1912.
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Selected titles
Examples from Chattanooga History Archives’s collection include “Chattanooga Advertiser” and “The Times”.
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Free and open access
No subscription or payment required.
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A closer look
An earlier generation comes into view through the stories its newspapers chose to report, placing familiar names and events within the concerns of their time.
Historical newspapers can connect a family name with the events and everyday concerns of an earlier time, offering more than a date or a name on its own. Bring a family connection, a question about a familiar place or an interest in local history, and see where the sources lead. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.
Explore the collection
Titles in this collection
Browse forty-one titles and 61,104 digitized pages, with material from 1838 to 1912. A partnership between Chattanooga History Archives and Advantage Archives makes this collection available. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.
Start with a detail you already know, then browse the titles below for another perspective on the people and places connected with this collection.
Chattanooga Advertiser
16 pages in 1858
Chattanooga Commercial
6,318 pages from 1885 to 1887
Chattanooga Daily American Union
80 pages in 1866
Chattanooga Daily Commercial
2,662 pages from 1876 to 1885
Chattanooga Daily Gazette
146 pages from 1864 to 1865
Chattanooga Daily Press
48 pages in 1893
Chattanooga Daily Rebel
188 pages in 1863
Chattanooga Daily Times
2,374 pages from 1875 to 1911
Chattanooga Daily Times
4 pages in 1876
Chattanooga Evening News
1,508 pages in 1891
Chattanooga News
17,816 pages from 1891 to 1910
Chattanooga Press
13,302 pages from 1893 to 1905
Chattanooga Sunday Commercial
456 pages in 1886
Chattanooga Sunday News
312 pages in 1891
Chattanooga Times
20 pages in 1895
Chattanooga Weekly Press
32 pages in 1896
Commercial
152 pages in 1887
Crabtrees Saturday Press
424 pages from 1905 to 1906
Daily American Union
402 pages in 1866
Daily Commercial
2,824 pages in 1887
Hamilton Gazette
24 pages in 1838
Republican Press
320 pages in 1893
South Pittsburg Hustler
2,268 pages from 1909 to 1912
The Chattanooga Daily Rebel
8 pages from 1863 to 1864
The Chattanooga Daily Rebel
8 pages in 1862
The Chattanooga Daily Times
172 pages in 1895
The Chattanooga Daily Times
116 pages from 1877 to 1895
The Chattanooga Dispatch
6 pages in 1877
The Chattanooga Gazette
12 pages in 1886
The Chattanooga Star
2,442 pages in 1907
The Chattanooga Sunday Times
56 pages from 1890 to 1895
The Chattanooga Times
2 pages in 1894
The Chattaonooga Daily Times
1,460 pages in 1877
The Daily Chattanooga Rebel
4 pages in 1865
The Daily Chattanooga Rebel
90 pages in 1864
The Daily Rebel
32 pages in 1863
The Daily Republican
6 pages in 1869
The Daily Times
4,672 pages from 1869 to 1895
The Rebel
6 pages in 1862
The Southen Press
6 pages in 1871
The Times
310 pages in 1876
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About the Community
About The City of Chattanooga
The first inhabitants of the Chattanooga area were Native Americans, with continuous human occupation since the Upper Paleolithic period. The Cherokee established significant settlements in the area, including Ross's Landing, founded by John Ross in 1816. In 1838, the U.S. government forced the Cherokees to relocate west to the Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, via the Trail of Tears. Chattanooga, incorporated in 1839, quickly grew as a river The city lies along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia to the south. It is known as the "Scenic City" due to its surrounding mountains, ridges, and valleys. Other nicknames include "River City" and "Gig City," the latter referencing its claim to the fastest internet service in the Western Hemisphere. Chattanooga played a crucial role during the American Civil War because of its strategic location at the convergence of multiple railroads. This position helped it grow into a major industrial hub in the Southeastern United States post-war. Today, Chattanooga's economy is driven by industries such as automotive, advanced manufacturing, food and beverage production, healthcare, insurance, tourism, and corporate headquarters.
Local History
Did You Know?
Chattanooga was a critical battleground during the American Civil War, particularly noted for the Battles for Chattanooga, which included the Battle of Lookout Mountain and the Battle of Missionary Ridge. The city is home to the oldest remaining art in Chattanooga, the Chickamauga Mound, dating back to around 750 CE. Chattanooga's nickname "Gig City" comes from its pioneering gigabit-speed internet service, which was the fastest in the Western Hemisphere at its launch. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) reservoir system, designed to prevent flooding, was significantly influenced by the 1867 flood, the largest in Chattanooga's history, which crested at 58 feet and completely inundated the city. The city became a household name thanks to the 1941 Glenn Miller hit song "Chattanooga Choo Choo" It is home to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) and Chattanooga State Community College. Read more about Chattanooga's history here !
More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Check a text match against the page
Start with something you would like to understand about the past of Chattanooga. It might be a person, a neighborhood or an event remembered in your family. Use the digital archive shared by the Chattanooga History Archives to follow that question into the historical record. When using historical newspapers, try alternate spellings and nearby dates, then read the surrounding page to place a local story in its time. Compare later reporting or another available title to explore different perspectives rather than treating one account as the whole story. If a search result looks incomplete or misspelled, inspect the scanned page when available. Record the issue date and page, then distinguish the printed wording from search text before following the story to another mention.
If a text match looks incomplete, compare it with the scanned newspaper page when available. Check whether wording or names differ, then record the page's printed wording with the issue date and page. Keep the search result distinct from what the page itself shows.
As you connect materials, note where each detail came from and what it can support. Record the title, date, and page or item reference where available. Keep names and relationships tentative until the evidence is strong enough to connect them, and mark which words come from the record and which are your interpretation.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Chattanooga History Archives, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.
Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.
Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.
Learn about partnerships
Stories, research tips, and archive news
Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.
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Unveiling the Hidden Mysteries: Exploring Cold Cases and Unconventional Clues
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April 1, 2025
This Week in History: March 31st through April 6th
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This Week in History: March 24th through March 30th
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March 18, 2025
It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?
We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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