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Umbrella Rock Lookout Mountain

My dad is from Chattanooga and as a kid I made it down there many times on family trips. Who can forget the painted barns advertising “See Rock City” and “See Seven States” at Lookout Mountain on the road from Nashville to Chattanooga? Well, I must have been to those places a dozen times or more over the years. Haven’t been in quite a while so it was quite a jolt to my memory to see some recent photos Mr. Orman took in the 1930’s.

Where can you see seven states? Umbrella Rock, of course. This natural wonder has thrilled visitors for decades. You can’t walk to the edge of the cliff anymore or even have your photo taken climbing on these stacked stones (for obvious reasons). However, back in the 1930’s it was anything goes as you can see from this family photo. I did a little searching and found postcards of all kinds for this view. I included one from about the time this photo was taken for a fun comparison.

Recently we have found several vacation photos W.A. Orman took in the 30’s and 40’s from New York, Washington D.C. and Florida too. Come by the gallery and we’ll show you a few.