Schroeder’s Garden Center was a thriving store in 1950s
These men, dressed in 1950s work clothes, represent the staff of Schroeder’s Garden Center, which was located near the McCallie Avenue viaduct in Chattanooga.
One of the vehicles in this 1959 photo is painted with the business’s alliterative motto: “Good landscaping doesn’t just happen, it’s planned and planted properly.”
In mid-century Chattanooga, the business, owned by entrepreneur William F. Schroeder, had two locations: the Duncan Avenue store near the viaduct (seen above) and a downtown store at 510 Market St. The Duncan Avenue address is now the site of the Montessori School.
The photo is taken from a collection of Chattanooga News-Free Press photographs kept at ChattanoogaHistory.com, a website devoted to legacy photos of the city and curated by history buff Sam Hall. John Goforth, a staff photographer for the newspaper in the 1950s, took the picture.
William F. Schroeder’s 1979 obituary in the News-Free Press notes that he was a 1933 graduate of Tulane University, playing on the school’s 1931 football team that competed in the Rose Bowl.
Schroeder spent 40 years as a Chattanooga business owner before his death, according to newspaper records. He was survived by his wife, Mary Wilbert Schroeder and three children. Schroeder and his wife were residents of Riverview at the time of his death. He was 67 years old.
In 1959, the year this photo was taken, ads in the newspaper’s classifieds section noted that the Market Street location of Schroeder’s operation stocked tropical fish, aquariums and supplies, in addition to gardening items.
Around Easter that year a big display advertisement in the newspaper for Schroeder’s offered chicks for 25 cents each and rabbits for $2. Double carnation
corsages were $1.49 and triple corsages were $1.98. Easter lilies sold for $3.49 and up.
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Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@ timesfreepress.com.