On Saturday, June 7, alumni of Lookout Jr. High School are invited to an all-class reunion. The event will be held at Ben Miller Park on West 40th Street next to the former Lookout Jr. High School building. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Food and entertainment will be part of the festivities, and alumni will be able to walk the halls of their alma mater during an open house. Memorabilia, including the class photographs from several years, will be displayed.

The idea for the reunion originated with Lookout Jr. High alumna Catherine Dodson. Initially, she had talked with a few of her school mates about getting their class back together. However, as they discussed the idea with other Lookout graduates, they found enough interest to support an all-class reunion. The first reunion was held at East Lake Park in 1992, and continued each year until 1997, when it was moved to the new Ben Miller Park adjacent to the Lookout campus. Alumni from each class year, 1925 to 1974, have attended. I’m also an alumnus of Lookout, and can report that folks have a lot of fun at the reunion. Note: this is Lookout Jr. High, and not Lookout Valley Jr. High. People were always confusing the two.

According to The St. Elmo Story by James Douthat, Finley. A. Seagle, former mayor of St. Elmo, first proposed the idea for a school that eventually became Lookout Jr. High. The year was 1922, and St. Elmo and Alton Park were independent cities with schools that were part of the Hamilton County system. Mr. Seagle promoted the idea of a new high school to serve both cities. However, County Judge Sam Conner countered the notion with an offer of $60,000 to build a junior high school instead. At that time, there were no junior high schools in the county, and Lookout became the first in the state to be under a county-run system. Judge Conner’s offer to build a new school came with a stipulation – Mr. Seagle and his group must acquire a building site.

Pooling the resources of three suburbs – St. Elmo, Alton Park, and Lookout Mountain – along with private investors, Mr. Seagle and his group obtained acreage along West 40th Street. The school was constructed by Rogers and Leventhal beginning in 1924, and completed the following year. Due to construction delays, Lookout Jr. High had a temporary home during the first 30 days of the school year in the First Methodist Church in St. Elmo. On November 10, 1925, the Chattanooga News reported “A large and enthusiastic gathering of patrons and friends was held Wednesday afternoon at the new Lookout Junior High School.”

An auditorium was added to the school in 1926. Lookout switched from the county to the City of Chattanooga school system after 1929, when St. Elmo and Alton Park were annexed after a vote was taken by the two cities. At the time of the change in school systems, the school had 295 students. The curriculum of Lookout included foreign languages (Spanish, German, French, Latin), mathematics, science, English, civics, hygiene, history, industrial arts, music, art, physical education, and home economics. A second addition was made to the school in 1930.

The Lookout Jr. High campus included 22 acres, ranking second in size in 1955 behind the new Howard High School. Many large trees shaded the building, and students walked to and from school with Lookout Mountain towering over them. The Lookout Bobcats entertained sports fans and wore the school colors of green and white. The St. Elmo Recreation Center operated its summer baseball leagues on the field behind Lookout Jr. High. Sports and other activities were reported in the school newspaper, The Megaphone. The band and glee club allowed students to participate in the performing arts, and took field trips to St. Elmo Elementary to entertain and motivate the next generation of musicians.

The demographics of the Lookout school zone changed over the years, and enrollment gradually declined. With much of the school underutilized, the Chattanooga City Schools moved their offices into a portion of the building in 1963. It was very common to see education administrators such as Dr. Claude C. Bond in the Lookout cafeteria along with students. A 1964 article in the Chattanooga Times recapped a meeting of St. Elmo parents and the school board, where concerns were raised that the school of 162 students would eventually be closed. Lookout Jr. High was indeed closed after the 1973-74 school year, and the building has since been used by the school system for administrative offices.

There were many distinguished educators who passed along their knowledge and values to their students at Lookout Jr. High over the years. Among them …

Professor Charles H. Winder

Prof. Winder followed Creed Bates (who went on to serve as Chattanooga High School principal for many years) as principal of Lookout. He was a native of Virginia, and a chemistry professor at the University of Chattanooga from 1905 to 1912. He served as principal at Chattanooga High School and city schools superintendent prior to joining the staff of Lookout. He continued as principal of the school for many years until he was killed in an auto accident in 1953 at the age of 81.

Mildred McPhail

Mildred McPhail was a graduate of the University of Chattanooga with a Masters Degree from Columbia University. She taught English at Lookout between 1926 and 1968, and then continued as a substitute teacher for a few years thereafter. My father and I were privileged to have her as a teacher. She died in 1997 at the age of 91.

Loyd A. Yarbrough

Mr. Yarbrough was a native of Morristown, TN, and graduated from Johnson City State Teachers College. Though his obituary reported that he also taught history and geography and coached the cheerleaders at Lookout, he was best known as the “shop” (industrial arts) teacher. Mr. Yarbrough was an accomplished cabinet maker and wood carver. Each year, his students were required to make a door knocker in the shape of a woodpecker, and a house address marker in the shape of the map of Tennessee. Mr. Yarbrough died in 1995 at the age of 89.

Annie Laura Millsaps

A lifelong St. Elmo resident, Annie Laura Millsaps graduated from East Tennessee State Teachers College and George Peabody Teachers College, and taught civics and history at Lookout for 43 years. She died in 1991 at the age of 87.

If you have memories of Lookout Jr. High, please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@signaldata.net