City Center in Chattanooga in Hamilton County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

Central Block Building / Site of First Presbyterian Church

1883

Central Block Building Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, October 16, 2021

1. Central Block Building Marker

Inscription.
Central Block Building
1883
Donated to United Way of Greater Chattanooga
By Cornerstones, Inc. - 2000
Historic Preservation By
Frank McDonald Architects, P. C. And Raines Brothers, Inc. - 2003
Has been placed in the National and Tennessee Registers of Historic Places
By the National Park Service of the United States Department of Interior - 1995
[Supplemental plaque]
The National Register
Tennessee
Historical Commission
Central Block Bldg
c. 1883
of Historic Places
[Supplemental plaque]
Site of
First Presbyterian Church
1854 — 1882
Placed by the church

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Churches & Religion • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1883.

Location. 35° 2.907′ N, 85° 18.562′ W. Marker is in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in Hamilton County. It is in City Center. Marker is at the intersection of Market Street and East 7th Street, on the right when traveling north on Market Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 630 Market St, Chattanooga TN 37402, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. William (Uncle Bill) Lewis (here, next to this marker); William "Uncle Bill" Lewis

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(a few steps from this marker); Miller Brothers Department Store c. 1898 (within shouting distance of this marker); Chattanooga Daily Rebel (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); G. W. Franklin (about 700 feet away); Ochs/Times Building (about 800 feet away); Hamilton County (about 800 feet away); First Methodist Church (about 800 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chattanooga.

Regarding Central Block Building / Site of First Presbyterian Church. Excerpt from the National Register nomination:

… The history of the Central Block dates to August 1882 when Dr. Marx Block and Prosper Lazard purchased two lots measuring 85 X 140 feet on the corner of Market and Seventh Streets for $15,000. The corner site had been the location of the First Presbyterian Church during the Civil War. Dr. Block, a native of Alsace-Lorraine, came to the United States in 1857. He served as an assistant surgeon in the Union Army during the Civil War and settled in Chattanooga in 1866. Failing health caused him to abandon the practice of medicine and he entered into
Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, October 16, 2021

2. Central Block Building Supplemental Marker
the drug business. Mr. Block resided at 308 High Street and had his wholesale drug business at 709 Market Street. He built the Central Block to lease out to other tenants. …

Also see . . .
1. What Did That Building Used To Be? Live And Let Live Drug Co. Retrospective by Harmon Jolley in The Chattanoogan about a drugstore that occupied the building's street-level floor in the early 1900s. (Submitted on October 18, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

2. The Live and Let Live Drug Company. Overview and pictures of the drugstore's time in the Central Block Building by Sam Hall on his Chattanooga History blog. (Submitted on October 18, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

Site of First Presbyterian Church Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, October 16, 2021

3. Site of First Presbyterian Church Marker

Central Block Building image. Click for more information.

via NPS, unknown

4. Central Block Building

National Register of Historic Places Digital Archive on NPGallery website entry
Click for more information.

Central Block Building / First Presbyterian Church Markers image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, October 16, 2021

5. Central Block Building / First Presbyterian Church Markers

The markers on either side of the entrance are about the present building; the marker on the right is about the church that once stood on the site.

Looking east up 7th Street from Market Street, Chattanooga image. Click for full size.

Stokes-Forstner via Chattanooga Public Library / Fair use, circa 1914

6. Looking east up 7th Street from Market Street, Chattanooga

The Central Block Building, with The Live and Let Live Drug Co. occupying the ground floor, is on the left. It now is home to the United Way of Chattanooga.

Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 18, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 225 times since then and 53 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on October 18, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 4. submitted on February 6, 2022, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. 5, 6. submitted on October 18, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.