© Roy Tuley Photography
A postcard description
MARKET STREET, Chattanooga, TN
One of the finest purely retail streets in the South. Its broad sidewalks lined with imposing department stores and magnificent shops displaying beautiful merchandise grathered from all quarters of the globe.
It started in Chattanooga
Before the US State Routes and Interstate systems, finding and navigating suitable safe roads was somewhat of an adventure. Public / private partnerships called Trail Associations were established to create a better system for travelers.
The Dixie Highway
, was organized in early December 1914 in Chattanooga. On April 3, 1915, governors of the interested states met at Chattanooga, and each selected two commissioners to lay out the route from Chicago to Miami. The name "Dixie Highway" persists in various locations along its original routes.
READ MORE:
The Dixie Highway
Safety Islands
A sign of the transition from trolleys to buses are safety islands. David H. Steinberg, an author, historian and avid collector of street car, railway and bus transportation history materials, grew up in Chattanooga. He also knew Roy Tuley quite well.
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As for the safety islands in the middle of the street, they were used until the streetcars ceased to operate. The last day the final Boyce line operated was April 9, 1947, and yes, the buses also used the islands for their downtown stops until that time. I remember catching the streetcar as a little tot on the 9th Street island. My grandfather had a shoe store in the 300 block of East 9th Street and knowing of my fixation even then with the trolleys, he would take me from time to time to ride on them and we would walk those three short blocks to catch the car.
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—David H. Steinberg