John Shearer: Lookout Mountain’s Sims Property – The Future Of Which Is Being Discussed -- Once Known For Flowers, Tourists And Swimming

The Sims property off McFarland Road by Fort Trace Drive on Lookout Mountain has recently been cleared of some old buildings and overgrowth, but it is still full of something else – history.

 

For a number of years, it was the home of the old Fairyland Courts motel and vacation rental homes, housing a number of visitors to nearby Rock City and other popular Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga sites.

 

And besides being a getaway for carefree tourists, it was also a hideaway for a key government witness when the famous trial for union boss Jimmy Hoffa was held in Chattanooga in 1964.

 

But the property certainly did not hide its eye-catching flowers and herbs that owner Jesse Sims grew.

 

The place was also a popular draw for Lookout Mountain residents, serving as everything from a recreation center with its swimming pool, to a makeshift infirmary, to even an outdoor worship space for a local church.

 

“It was kind of a neighborhood draw,” said Don Sims, who grew up there with his three siblings working at the motel.

 

Mr.

Sims, who now lives in the South Georgia town of Thomasville, recently offered his memories of the old family property over the phone.

 

Efforts are currently being made to move the property forward and recreate it in a way that would be both economically feasible and amenable to all interested parties, including both the four surviving Sims family members and the town of Lookout Mountain, Ga. The town – which is also moving forward with a planned new town hall and town center nearby – will eventually be reimbursed for its work removing the historic-but-dilapidated buildings and cleaning up other parts of the grounds.

 

Future plans for the site might include seeing it developed or, as some have hoped, having the tract become a small greenway, if funds or possible grants could be obtained.

 

Kenny Lee, who is now involved in a committee along with Jimmy Campbell looking at adding trails, greenways and sidewalks to the town, said his group was scheduled to have some outdoor forums this month to talk about what town residents want to see done with it.

 

He said last month they would open the gatherings to about 50 people each time, and they would meet at the small pavilion with the stone fireplace and grills. That would allow people to meet safely while still social distancing, but also allow attendees to view the property and offer and hear ideas.

 

“It’s a beautiful piece of property,” Mr. Lee said at the time. “We will share with them the vision of what we want to do with it.”

 

They also hope to survey residents in other ways, too.

 

Don Sims said his father, Jesse, and mother, “Donnie,” bought the property in 1948 and began building the motel facilities a short time later.

 

Bill Ingle was initially a partner in the project as well, but he died in the early years from heart-related problems, Mr. Sims said. The elder Mr. Sims worked in sales with Hamilton Concrete, while his wife coordinated the running of the motel property.

 

“It was pretty much out in the country,” he recalled. “It had a tourist court and we owned five houses that were rented.”

 

Mr. Sims said that families from the North and elsewhere would come yearly or so and stay in the houses, and his family became good friends with them.

 

Mr. Sims and his siblings – Maxine (McNutt), Jesse Jr. and Paul -- grew up working on the grounds, he added.

 

The property also had a pool that was enjoyed as well by those in the neighborhood, and a number of Lookout Mountain residents grew up swimming there, he recalled.

 

It was also a draw for the not-so-happy moments as well due to his mother’s medical experience as a registered nurse. “She was kind of the emergency clinic for the neighborhood,” he remembered of his mother, who died in 2010 at the age of 94. “She gave first aid, and she had people who came every day for diabetes shots. She never charged.”

 

The 14-acre vacation grounds were also known by yet another group of people simply for all the greenery.

 

“My father was an overly aggressive gardener,” Mr. Sims continued of his father, who also donated the land for the first Lookout Mountain, Ga., city park. “He had a formal English herb garden that was featured in herb magazines and in Southern Living.”

 

He was featured in that magazine two or three times, including once showing how to make concrete garden blocks for grandchildren or others to put their prints in.

 

The former president of the Southeast Dahlia Growers Association, who died in 1995 at the age of 81, was also active in civic and church affairs, leading what became the United Way’s fund-raising campaign efforts in 1967. He was also on the original Lookout Mountain, Ga., town council in the early 1970s and had also been a founding member of the nearby Lookout Mountain United Methodist Church.

 

The church would have Sunday evening vesper services on a hill on the property during warm weather, Mr. Sims remembered. 

 

The Fairlyland Courts property was also featured in another magazine one time, but for a more serious reason. When the jury tampering trial of Mr. Hoffa was held in Chattanooga in 1964, Edward Partin – a Teamsters business manager from Baton Rouge, La., who was featured in the recent movie, “The Irishman” – was a star state witness. He testified he had been paid to rig a Nashville jury in an earlier trial.

 

To protect him during the trial in Judge Frank Wilson’s federal courtroom and keep him out of sight, Mr. Partin was housed at the out-of-the-way Fairyland Courts. Mr. Sims was a senior at Chattanooga “City” High at the time and remembered them being there while a brother and sister were away at college.

 

“I didn’t know what was going on,” Mr. Sims recalled. “My parents told me to mind my own business. We knew something was going on, but you couldn’t tell much.”

 

The marshals had big appetites, he remembered, and they were fed steak and potatoes each night. He also said Life magazine did a story on Mr. Partin in its March 13, 1964, issue and photographed the group at the Lookout Mountain property.

 

Chattanooga attorney Maury Nicely recently wrote a book about the trial in Chattanooga called “Hoffa in Tennessee.”

 

Regarding the land’s future, Mr. Sims said it has been for sale, and some developers have looked at it, but they would prefer smaller lots than the typical zoning. He also likes the park idea.

 

“I think that would be a great thing,” he said. “The front of it did have some gardens there. It was pretty extensive.”

 

Of its past, he is much more certain, saying it played a valuable role in the development of that part of Lookout Mountain. “I always called it a Mom and Pop tourist court,” he said. “It was a neat way to grow up.” 

 

Jcshearer2@comcast.net