St. Elmo Neighborhood
Introduction
Resting at the foot of Lookout Mountain is the St. Elmo National
Historic District, Chattanooga’s first bedroom suburb. Its
development resulted from the expansion of the electric trolley
from the city in 1893 and the construction of Lookout Mountain
Incline in 1895. The yellow fever epidemic of 1878 encouraged
citizens to flee the city for more healthy rural air. Outstanding
among the early settlers was the Civil War Colonel A.M. Johnson,
who subdivided his farm into home lots. He called his second subdivision
"St. Elmo" after Augusta J. Evans’ romantic novel
of the same name, which depicted scenes from the mountain community.
The St. Elmo district listed more than 600 properties in the
National Historic Register in 1982, making it one of the largest
such districts in the country. The district includes the unusual
listing of Forest Hills Cemetery, which was incorporated in 1880.
Originally built as summer homes for wealthy Chattanoogans and
homes for the working middle class, the buildings date from the
1880’s and are primarily frame and Victorian in feeling,
embracing several of the varied architectural styles of the period.
Six churches, two of wood construction and four of masonry
construction still serve the community. St. Elmo today has a strong
sense of heritage and is being revitalized by the careful renovations
of a cross-section of population.
Glancing back into history, St. Elmo was once the site of the
crossroads of two ancient Cherokee Indian trails and home of Daniel
Ross, the father of John Ross, principal chief of the Cherokee
tribe at the time of the "Trail of Tears," when the
Cherokees were removed to Oklahoma. The John Ross home is a National
Landmark in nearby Rossville, Georgia.
St. Elmo was designated as a Local Historic District in 1992.
This listing protects the character of the neighborhood by ensuring
that changes to houses and new construction are compatible with
existing architecture.
Lookout Mountain Incline
3917 St. Elmo Avenue. Circa 1986. The first incline station
opened in 1895 and brought many tourists to the St. Elmo community.
The steepest incline railway in the world operates with new cars
that were purchased in 1986. The new station, designed by Terry
Barker, is Victorian in feeling and consists of two buildings,
one on the ascending side and the other on the descending side
of the railway. A gazebo, wide verandahs, paddle fans add gas
lights add interest to the waiting spaces. The original station
was a three story lookout tower.
Ming Toy Shop House
4102 St. Elmo Avenue. Circa 1904-14. Early 20th
century residents remember the stylish hat shop owned by Mrs.
Jessie Denney located in this house. A community-wide contest
was held to name the shop. The stucco house is Spanish Revival
with much rustic stone work in the foundation, open porches and
chimneys. There are six arched windows in the two lower sections
of the façade. Another prominent arched window previously
was a part of the central tower.
- Note the group of houses on St. Elmo Avenue between 41st
and 42nd streets. Well preserved and rich in architectural
detail, these homes feature inviting porches with Victorian and
Neoclassical trim, stone walls and well-established gardens.
St. Elmo Fire Station
4501 St. Elmo Avenue. Circa 1934. This Tudor revival structure
of multicolored (red, coral, brown) and multipatterned brick construction
is now a fire department office after serving 40 years as a station.
Note the intricate brick patters between the half-timbering of
the second story. The red board-and-batten door is trimmed with
heavy black iron work braces.
St. Elmo Public School
47th Street at St. Elmo Avenue. Circa 1906, 1915,
1957. Land to build a public school for St. Elmo was donated by
A.M. Johnson. The city of St. Elmo was incorporated for the purpose
of selling bonds to finance the school in 1905 and remained a
separate city until 1929 when it was annexed by the city of Chattanooga.
The original structure of red brick, designed by C.D. Adams, cannot
be seen from the front. Facing St. Elmo Avenue is the 1915 cream-colored
brick addition, designed in Neoclassical style by J.D. Alsup.
Four tremendous two-story columns made of brick, with a U.S. flag
unfurled between the two center columns, produces a patriotically
imposing picture. A third addition to the north houses a cafeteria
and auditorium, circa 1957. The school is currently owned by the
city of Chattanooga.
Mayor Seagle House
4701 Tennessee Avenue. Circa 1910. This was the home of Finley
Alexander Seagle who came to Chattanooga in 1883 and was mayor
of the city of St. Elmo for eight years. This gracious house,
which sits on the corner of 47th Street, is a multilevel
dwelling typical of many Victorian homes with nooks and crannies
in surprising places. An expansive, columned, front verandah encloses
a glass front door with beveled-glass sidelights. Cobblestone
fencing lines both streets.
Willet House
4914 Tennessee Avenue. Circa 1927. The Willet House is a Spanish
revival house constructed of brick, now painted white. The roof
is barrel-type tile of traditional terra-cotta color. Four arched
windows across the front façade are classic in feeling.
The front door is heavy paneling with leaded-glass tracery in
the sidelights and black coach lantern are on either side of the
door. The approach to the property is through deep, rustic gray
stone walls; the house sits high on a hill.
Jenkins House
5201 Tennessee Avenue. Circa pre-1889. This stately two-story
house of Queen Anne style is asymmetrical in plan with a verandah
on the side fronted with three sets of coupled columns. Above
the front door is a lead-glass transom; to the right an ornate
oval window with lead-glass tracery.
Henderson House
5310 Tennessee Avenue. Circa 1883. The Henderson House is one
of the oldest houses in the district. Congressman William Crutchfield
gave this Victorian farmhouse as a wedding present to his daughter,
Dora, when she married J.C. Henderson. A rough stone fence, with
pointed stone top, surrounds the property; a long ascending front
walk is edged with ancient boxwood. The two-story frame home has
shingles on the south side, circular verandah and bargeboard gable
trim. Note the ornate ironwork vents in the fountain.
Gillespie House
5201 St. Elmo Avenue. Circa 1927-28. This house is an excellent
example of the Dutch Colonial revival style. Its two-story frame
construction is dominated by a gambrel roof. An inviting second-story
porch is on the north side of the house. Board-and-batten shutters
have half-moon cut-out motifs. A pedimented bracket gives emphasis
to the front door and sidelights.
Duffy House
4708 Alabama Avenue. Circa 1910. An outstanding example of
Victorian shingle style. The lower level is constructed of narrow
overlap board and the second level is covered with shingles. Shingles
also fill the gable area, which is centered with a sunrise motif.
There are four square posts across the front porch trimmed with
black iron railing. The front door has a transom and sidelights.
J.B. Sizer House
4605 Alabama Avenue. Circa 1925. This Tudor revival structure
has several distinguishing features including a high pitched,
gable roof with half-timber trim on the façade, arched
doors and windows, and rough stonework on the chimney, porch and
lower sections of the stucco walls. A charming breezeway connects
the garage to the house. Note the stone terraces at the rear of
the house rising up toward Lookout Mountain.
- Treat yourself to a walk along Alabama Avenue in the summertime
and enjoy the many Victorian homes with informal gardens colorful
with tall fragrant perennials and many varieties of annuals.
Arnold Farmhouse
4409 Alabama Avenue. Circa pre-1889. This is an early Victorian
farmhouse built by the Arnold family, who ran a dairy on the property.
More recently, the Bice family has owned the house for more than
40 years. Malcolm Bice worked at the incline for all those years.
The two-story frame house has a large porch across the front with
six large columns. Note the shingles and open-work vents in the
gable area.
Two Typical Bungalows
4219 and 4221 Alabama Avenue. Circa early-1920’s. These
small one-story houses have deep red brick foundations, with brick
extending up to form the base of the tapered porch posts. The
upper walls are constructed of narrow overlapping boards. The
roofs have low pitch and wide overhangs with trusses projecting
to their edge. Note the cube, shaped in the pierced vent in the
gable of 4221, and dentils along the lower gable.
Site of A.M. Johnson House
Across Alabama Avenue from the Episcopal Church. In 1887, Colonel
Abraham Malone Johnson, founder and leading citizen of St. Elmo,
built a red brick Victorian Queen Anne mansion on this property.
The 12-room house with its central tower became the social and
cultural center of the community, but was lost to fire in 1956.
Only the imposing wall and double stairs from the street remain.
In earlier years of the 19th century, Daniel Ross and
the Cherokee made their home on this elevated site with a commanding
view of the valley.
Two Shingle Houses
4118 and 4122 Alabama Avenue. Circa 1927-28. These small homes
of Colonial revival style have high-pitched gables and are completely
covered with shingles, from foundation to roofline. Note the arched
porch on the south side of 4122, which is asymmetrical in feeling.
Conversely, 4118 is very symmetrical with a centered front door
with fan-light and scroll pediment under a central steeply pitched
roof.
Sessions House
113 Ochs Highway. Circa 1887. This house is an early Victorian
farmhouse with hipped roof and gabled entry. Verandahs originally
were on three sides, however one side is now enclosed by a room
addition. There is Eastlake trim on the verandahs, which have
turned posts and banisters. Round bosses decorate the bracketed
posts. A pierced, star pattern is cut into the end gable vent.
Two stone lions guard the property and are surrounded with a variety
of mature trees.
Judge Gavin House
121 Ochs Highway. Circa 1912. The promontory placement of this
Neoclassical revival two-story house on the hill side of Ochs
Highway is a perfect wedding of building to land. A large, bracketed
pediment covers the front door. Simple, round coupled columns
are used at the entry and on the porch, where they are tripled
at the corners. Stone entry posts and a wall behind the house
add more architectural interest to the property.
Forest Hills Cemetery
4016 Tennessee Avenue. Circa 1880. It is most unusual for a
cemetery to become a part of a National Historic District. Forest
Hills was included because its 100 acres were subdivided by A.M.
Johnson and other investors and incorporated in 1880. Many of
Chattanooga’s oldest and wealthiest families have been buried
here over the last 100 years. With spaces for 70,000 graves, the
cemetery continues to serve the city. There is an outstanding
collection of tombstones, beginning with Victorian styles through
contemporary ones. There are lovely fruit tree blossoms and azaleas
in spring and deciduous tree color in fall.
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