From The Archives: Early Days of the Chattanooga Zoo

Kids used to know it as the Warner Park Zoo.

But it really wasn’t much more than a petting zoo back then, with animals lined up behind chained link fences.

Now when kids go to Boo at the Zoo later this month, they will find more animals, in larger spaces with more of an educational exhibit.

But that didn’t happen overnight.

This week in our From The Archives series, we go back to 1985, where organizers were planning on a better tomorrow (the one we have today).

Plus you get a glimpse of a young Darde Long!

The Warner Park Zoo began in 1937 with a pair of Rhesus monkeys.

The peak years were in the 1940’s, but it didn’t change much after that.

In 1969, it morphed into a low maintenance petting zoo.

Finally, in the 1980’s, the Friends of the Zoo was created to upgrade the facility into what we have now.

You can get the full