Like one of the periodically visible comets he enjoyed studying, the late Chattanoogan Clarence T. Jones and his work have suddenly come back into view.

Actually, both his vocation of architecture and his avocation of astronomy are the reasons he is once again in the news nearly 60 years after his death.

Last year, Vanderbilt University’s Dyer Observatory that he designed in Brentwood, Tn., was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and several days ago, his observatory in Brainerd next to the former Brainerd Junior High/21st Century Academy was named to the prestigious list.

Brian Beadles, who works with National Register nominations for the Tennessee Historical Commission in Nashville, said the buildings themselves were what prompted the listing.

“The impetus for the nominations of the observatories was more of an interest in observatories as a building type rather than an interest in Jones,” he said.

Someone who is interested in Mr. Jones might find that locating detailed listings of his buildings is as challenging as trying to find an obscure star.

Only a few newspaper articles and other documents on him and his works seem accessible, but they do make reference to at least a dozen or so buildings he designed.

Other known still-standing buildings in Chattanooga he designed include the National Guard Armory on Holtzclaw Avenue (opened in 1941), the former YWCA building (now Family and Children’s Services) at Eighth and Lindsay streets (1913), and the former Industrial YMCA building off Main Street (1930) on Mitchell Avenue.

Structures he designed that have since been torn down or are presumed torn down are the Clara Carpenter School on East Fifth Street near UTC, the former East Side Junior High, Howard High (before it moved to South Market Street), the Stonedge home of hotel operator and newspaper publisher J.B. Pound on Lookout Mountain, an addition or major enlargement to the former county jail, the remodeled Vine Street Orphanage just west of UTC, and the Walsh and Weidner building that became part of Combustion Engineering (now Alstom).

He also designed the Fillauer Surgical Supply Company building and the Hailey Chevrolet building. At the time of Mr. Jones’ death in 1951, Fillauer was on East Third Street near Erlanger Hospital, and Hailey Chevrolet was at 1700 S. Broad St.

Interested in interior design, Mr. Jones was also involved in the significant remodeling of the old Lyerly home at Oak and Palmetto streets in Fort Wood for the Zeboim Charles Patten family.

He also helped in some capacity on R.H. Hunt’s Hamilton County Courthouse, and was a consultant for the Bradley Observatory in Atlanta. The Dyer Observatory at Vanderbilt was completed in 1953 after his death with the help of his son, Bruce Jones.

Born in Frankfort, Ky., Mr. Jones attended the University of Kentucky. He then continued his studies in Cincinnati. While in the Queen City, he also worked for Southern Railway architect Frank Milburn.

He then lived in Columbia, S.C., and did some design work on the state capitol before coming to Chattanooga in 1910.

Mr. Jones may not have arrived in Chattanooga with a bang, but the city welcomed him with one, as the old Hamilton County Courthouse was ablaze on his first night in town. That was also the year Halley’s Comet was easily seen in the sky above Chattanooga and many other places.

After seeing the courthouse fire, Mr. Jones became interested in helping plan another one.

He was initially in the firm of Barnwell and Jones before starting his own firm. Two of his sons, Bruce and Arthur Jones, also later joined him.

His obituary said he designed hundreds of buildings in Chattanooga and other places in the South and East.

UTC art and architecture professor Dr. Gavin Townsend calls Mr. Jones difficult to describe architecturally because not a lot of his known work remains. And, like noted Chattanooga architect R.H. Hunt, he was pretty conservative in style.

However, Dr. Townsend believes Mr. Jones was somewhat repetitive in his style.

For example, he said Mr. Jones had an obvious interest in Italian Renaissance architecture, based on the old Pound home and the Industrial YMCA on Mitchell Avenue.

“His house for Pound (completed in the late 1920s) is a classic study of a country Tuscan villa, from the low-pitched red tile roof to the free-stone chimneys and arched courtyard separating the house from the garage,” he said. “The house included some very sophisticated detailing, even in the artistic stone wall surrounding the property. “

The Tuscan style used with the Industrial YMCA likely came from the streets of Florence, where one can find similar three-story masonry buildings, Dr. Townsend said.

“Small metal balconies project from the windows at the top floor (of the Y), just as you might find in any Tuscan palazzo,” he said.

The Industrial Y in turn resembles the YWCA building in that the street sides of both buildings are divided into thirds, with a recessed central section, and with three windows marking each section of each floor, Dr. Townsend said.

“At the top of this central section in both buildings is an open balcony or gallery,” he continued. “The two buildings just wear different clothes, so to speak: Italian Renaissance for the Industrial branch and Georgian revival for the 1913 building.”

Dr. Townsend added that these buildings were typical of the up-to-date styles used at the time by noted architects, such as Edwin Lutyens.

Both the razed East Side Junior High and the Brainerd observatory are also divided into thirds, he said.

However, the observatory – which opened in 1936 - reflects a new style popular at the time: art deco.

“Ornamentation is kept to a minimum, and sleek lines are used instead to define the structure,” Dr. Townsend said. “The more modern style befits a building dedicated to science and devoted to celebrating and housing Jones's beloved telescopes.”

As mentioned, when Mr. Jones was not looking up close at the buildings he was designing, he was looking far away.

An Aug. 7, 1932, article from the Chattanooga Times talks about his love for astronomy and telescope making. It said he even had an observatory in the back yard of his longtime home at 512 Kilmer St. in Glenwood. His son, Arthur, who at the time was a student at Chattanooga High, was also interested in astronomy.

With the observatory in Brainerd, he likely put a little extra care into its design, since the blueprints were going to offer space for his footprints.

Constructed with Public Works Administration and city funds, the observatory was to be named for him because of his longtime membership with the Barnard Astronomical Society.

Although a rule had existed that PWA projects could not be named after living people, the observatory – which was run by the University of Chattanooga and later UTC – was officially named for him in 1947.

Mr. Jones obviously enjoyed a full and apparently happy life, but it came to a sad end on July 30, 1951.

He had been at the Warner Park pool with his grandchildren a couple of weeks before when he accidentally fell down some stairs and was injured.

Complications arose and he suffered two heart attacks, the second proving to be fatal.

After a service, he was buried at Forest Hills Cemetery.

The obituary for this member of Centenary Methodist Church and numerous fraternal and civic groups ran on the front page of the newspaper.

And at least a few of his buildings – including his beloved observatory - still stand in the forefront as well as reminders of his tangible and intangible contributions to the city of Chattanooga.

Jcshearer2@comcast.net