How do you get into The Vault?
We have not confirmed it. The Vault is in the directory because it calls itself a speakeasy, and that is the whole of what we can stand behind about its door.
The drinks at The Vault
How the venue describes itself: “Get the latest travel news, guides, tips, and ideas. See photos and slideshows of the most beautiful places, best vacation spots, and places to visit.” (from its own website, retrieved 9 October 2026)
Beyond what the venue publishes we have not verified a list, so what follows is the period rather than the bar: Sazerac, Vieux Carré, and Scofflaw are all drinks of this era, and each links to its origin and its build.
The building
Documented — The Vault occupies the James Building, a property listed on the National Register of Historic Places under reference number 80003814. The listing is a federal record maintained by the National Park Service, and the nomination document is the primary source for the building’s architectural and social history.
National Register reference 80003814 · NPS nomination document
Where The Vault sits
The Vault is in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in Hamilton County, in the Deep South of the United States.
Our directory currently lists two speakeasies and hidden bars in Chattanooga — too few for a city guide of its own yet, so they sit on the Tennessee page until there are more.
Measured from the map pins, the closest of those to The Vault are Company Chattanooga, about 1.0 km away.
Tennessee holds 24 listed venues in this directory. See them all on our Tennessee speakeasy guide.
Prohibition in Tennessee
Tennessee did not wait for the federal government. Statewide prohibition took effect here in 1909, eleven years before the Eighteenth Amendment came into force nationally on 17 January 1920. By the time the Volstead Act was being enforced across the country, Tennessee already had an established illegal trade and the habits that went with it.
More on the period in our history of Prohibition in Tennessee.
What the newspapers recorded in Chattanooga
Searching the Library of Congress run of Tennessee newspapers for speakeasy, blind pig and bootlegger across 1920 to 1933 returns dated pages anyone can open. These are from Chattanooga:
- The Chattanooga news, September 20, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The Chattanooga news, September 7, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The Chattanooga news, August 9, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The Chattanooga news, May 25, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
Planning a visit
You can reach The Vault by phone on (423) 805-1430, through its own website, and on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
The address is 736 Broad Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. Open in Google Maps.
What we have confirmed
For The Vault we hold street address, telephone number, official website, social accounts, and a listed-building record. We do not yet hold opening hours, a published drinks list, or an online booking link.
It is in the directory because its own name names a vault and the description in the source data describes it as a speakeasy.
Two independent open datasets, OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps, both carry this venue at this location. Agreement between them is the strongest existence check we can make without visiting.
The source data classifies the premises as a bar.