What does it take to make a neighborhood a really special place?
My great-grandfather, Green A. McCollum, brought his family to St. Elmo nearly 100 years ago in 1920. He purchased a little four room shotgun house at 4502 Tennessee Ave. I can still see it from my bedroom window today. In 1934, my grandfather and grandmother started the Medley Family with the birth of my father in the living room of that little house. My father, Clyde Medley, had the distinction of being born, living his entire life of 72 years, passing from life to death and being buried in Forest Hills Cemetery with all of those milestones happening on Tennessee Avenue. That's rather special in itself.
I was prompted to write this after reading a front page article titled "$21M St. Elmo project planned" in the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Saturday, May 4. Specifically, I found the quote by Bob Franklin, "There's the opportunity for downtown St. Elmo to become a really special place for the first time ever", to be very disappointing and simply not true.
Bob Franklin is a very well respected local architect and does excellent work. However, I would like to educate Mr. Franklin in what qualifies a neighborhood as being a really special place. A $21 million development of a few new well-designed buildings will not be the secret release of making St. Elmo a special place for the first time in its history. In my opinion, it already has been special for many years.
I have lived all of my 55 years in St. Elmo. It is the heritage, history and the people themselves that make a neighborhood special. It's good neighbors and being a good neighbor. It's doing business with friends that become like family. It's fond memories. It's St. Elmo famously being known as the gateway to Chattanooga's tourism on Lookout Mountain. It's three generations of McDonough's owning and operating Incline Drugs for many years. They knew practically everyone by name and they provided excellent service always with a smile and a kind word. It's having your healthcare needs being taken care of by neighborhood doctor's, Dr. Shipp, Dr. Kennedy, Dr. Newton. Dr. Bryan or Dr. Renegar. It's sitting in James Clark's St, Elmo Barbershop as a child wondering if your mother is going to take you to Kay's Kastle for ice cream or take you shopping for your favorite toy at Redford's Dime Store. It's taking a ride on the Incline with the conductor, Malcom Bice. It's banking at American National / Suntrust where you got to have wonderful relationships with Ms. Dean, Ms. Partain, Vanessa and Kay. It's seeing twins Leonard and Leon Collier working hard at Chattanooga Medicine Company. It's finding all of your home improvement needs at Mr. Varner's Incline Hardware or walking across the parking lot for a nice lunch at the Incline Restaurant. It was walking to your choice of church on Sunday morning. It was going to the neighborhood elementary school where long-time principal Herbert Kaiser truly cared about the children's education and well-being and having great teachers like Nanny Gothard, Ethel Bice, Judy Ferris, Nell Beswick, Alice Hankins, Lula Jackson, Gwen Moore, Roberta Stone.
Much of what made St. Elmo a special place to me has passed into history and faded into to my memories. St. Elmo can and will continue to be special. I only hope that the newer generations will preserve the history of the neighborhood and know that St. Elmo has always been a special place.
Scott Medley
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Just as Scott Medley's family, my family also has a long history and ties to St. Elmo. Possibly dating as far back before the community was even somewhat officially established in 1885. Old George Scholze Jr. (for some reason I recall there being a 'c' in his last name--now removed) grew up around my great-aunts, Nellie, Sophia, Hilda, and uncles-Wesley, Johnny (all last name Hicks-Johnny Jr., son of Johnny, was interviewed and mentioned for his service to country during the Korean war before passing at the age of 97. Uncle Wesley and Johnny Sr. served in WWII - was recently told). George Jr. and Great Aunt Nellie and Sophia were playmates growing up. He spent more time at great-grandma Gertrude and great-grandpa Robert's house than he did at his own. He often pulled my great aunts in his little red wagon. As they grew older, George developed a big crush on Great-Aunt Sophia some say he never got over after two marriages even.
I was born in St. Elmo over 60 years ago on the same street where Scholze Tannery once sat, not far up the road and on St. Elmo Ave where there now sit several recently developed expensive condos and townhomes.
Personally, I no longer care what's done in St. Elmo. Especially after how some old diehards and newcomers teamed up with police a few years ago in an effort to force long time black residents out. They really went all out nuclear in harassing some long time black homeowners when plans were made to tear down Alton Park and some folks feared those former Alton Park public housing renters would attempt to move into St. Elmo. The malice and mistreatment, especially towards young black males long living in the community, was particularly inhumane and brutal.
To be honest my own personal feelings are developers can come in and bulldoze the entire community down and start from scratch for all I care. I just want to know how much they're willing to pay me to move? I don't mean some little rinky-dink measly 40 or 50 grand. Nor even 100Gs. I'm thinking along the line of at least 200Gs plus, no questions asked. After all, one can barely buy and set up a used trailer with blown out windows for 100 grand in most areas today. So pay me to leave this time, rather than going through the underhanded, sneaky work of forcing me out. I figure, with all the "stuff" (I call them antiques/the hubby calls'em junk) I've accumulated and collected over the decades I should be able to pack-up and be out of everyone's hair in, say, about 60-90 days.
Any takers?
Brenda Washington
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St. Elmo has always been special. I grew up there and my grandparents, Herbert and Theresa Mitchell, and my dad, Charles (Chick) Mitchell, lived on Florida Avenue. I grew up on St. Elmo Avenue across from the play park.
All of the St. Elmo kids grew up together and we went to St. Elmo Grammar School with great teachers and of course, our wonderful principal Herbert Kaiser. We then went to Lookout Jr. High School on 40th Street in St. Elmo.
We had our churches, grocery stores, and drug stores within walking distance. We played at the play park and it was such a great community to grow up in. In fact, some of my friends actually have moved back and are living there now.
St. Elmo was so special that a lot of us are still friends and meet once a month for dinner. We have a reunion every year on the first Saturday in June at the old Lookout Jr. High School. The reunion is for all the people and friends that grew up in St. Elmo or went to Lookout Jr. High.
We all stick together and are there for each other when there is sickness or death in the family. There will never be another place like St. Elmo and even if you move away you will never forget it.
Charlotte (Mitchell) Page