PreserveNEXT: Downtown Historic District

Preserve Chattanooga is working in partnership with the Lyndhurst Foundation, River City Company, and the City of Chattanooga to closely monitor and promote the economic vitality of the Downtown Historic District. Here, you can learn about the historic buildings that contribute to the district, see what is occupied or vacant, review condition assessments, and discover investment opportunities in the heart of Chattanoga.

The Downtown Chattanooga Historic District, located in the heart of the city's central business district, contains buildings from every major period of development in the city's history from the decade after the Civil War, through its urban renewal period, to 1971. It physically stretches from the high-density business core along Broad and Market Streets at the western end of the district, where skyscrapers mark the intersections, through surrounding blocks of lesser height and density. The overall district retains the character of an urban commercial center. The district’s skyline is dominated by a series of high-rise buildings that includes: the Provident Life and Accident Co./Maclellan Building (1924, Resource #15); the James Building (1907, Resource #16), the Read House Hotel (1926, Resource #67); the Hamilton National Bank Building (1965-1969, Resource #55); the American National Bank Building (1968, Resource #61); the Chattanooga Bank Building (1928, Resource #62); and the Provident Life and Accident Co. (1960, Resource #68). The Downtown Chattanooga Historic District is visually distinct from the modern development that has occurred to its north and south, both in terms of its development pattern and its architectural character. Interstate 27 provides both a physical and visual boundary to the west of the district.