Mary Lynn Carter
Paul, James I. and Garnet Carter
Freida and Garnet Carter at Fairyland on Lookout Mountain
Two brothers who later were developers of Lookout Mountain attractions were early residents of Cameron Hill.
The family of James Inman Carter lived in a new house at 319 Poplar St. in 1890 and 1891. At the time, Carter was president of Carter Tobacco Company.
Paul Carter later remembered that Miss Cora Stratton, the best known art teacher in Chattanooga, was next door.
He also remarked that the Stratton home was next to the incline railway that for a few years went to the top of Cameron Hill, beginning at Second and Chestnut Streets. He said, "I would enjoy watching the cars go up and down Cameron Hill."
A daughter, Lucile, was born while the family was at Cameron Hill. Garnet, Mary Lynn and Paul had moved back to Chattanooga after living in Chicago.
By 1892, the wandering Carters were on Lookout Mountain.
There, Garnet and his wife, Freida, would acquire a large, very rocky tract and make something big out of it.
They opened the Rock City attraction in 1932, and they also developed the Fairyland subdivision. While doing so, Garnet Carter invented the game of miniature golf.
Meanwhile, Paul Carter was building a towering hotel on Jackson Hill above his brother's large holdings.
Unfortunately, this hotel opened during the depth of the Great Depression.
It later was converted for use as Covenant College, and Paul Carter was a lifelong friend to the Christian college.
The McGhee family, who were craftsmen for Loomis & Hart, lived many years at 319 Poplar St. William W. was a cabinetmaker, and Ulysses S. was a carver.
The house was no longer there by 1920.