Illustrated postcard detailing the colonades at the Chattanooga Spring Festival
Name/Title
Colonades, Spring Festival, Chattanooga
Entry/Object ID
2020.166.001
Description
A postcard with the front showing an illustration of the "Colonades," built for the annual Spring Festival. Temporary colonnades and arches strung with electric lights were constructed, as depicted in this illustration.
"The Spring Festival made its debut in May of 1898 at the same time an outbreak of typhoid was sweeping through Camp Thomas, then the nation’s largest military training ground located just 10 miles from downtown. A band of civic leaders believed the lighthearted distraction was just what the city needed to boost morale and lure visitors – which it most certainly did, drawing an estimated 75,000 in its first year (Chattanooga’s population was then 49,000)."
Sources:
1) "Ask Hamilton, City Scope Magazine": https://cityscopemag.com/city-scope/ask-hamilton/
