I enjoyed looking at the photo article of Cameron Hill, but did so with a sense of sadness and loss. As an old man, retired, I have plenty of reflecting time. I was just a kid, barely 10 years old, when the destruction began, but even in those days I paid more attention to the news than a 10-year-old should, and I remember the controversy between the city and County Historian Zella Armstrong and activist Mrs. Sim Perry Long, who vehemently opposed the destruction.
I can't say that your pictures brought back memories of a personal nature, but they create a sense of loss.
The streets, the old houses, and the history of the area which was lost created a void that Chattanooga still tries to replace.
Coupled with all the neighborhood homes that became parking lots for Provident over the years, the city really dried up for decades, until they decided to become a tourist mecca.
No one can argue the success of that decision, but sitting on the patio of a former bus barn drinking from an opaque container, one can't help but let their eye wander west to the red/orange slash in the Hill that has re-emerged from under the kudzu with the latest round of construction, and wonder "what if"?
Donny Hill
Signal Mountain North of the Border/Sometimes South Florida