Home at 300 Cameron by Boynton Park was built for the Garnier family and long occupied by the Prebuls
Top of the Prebul home can be seen in this view taken from Boynton Park. Shown are Lola Campbell Dodson and her daughter, Elizabeth.
Edith Prebul
Abe Prebul
A home that was built for the Garnier family with a fantastic view at the top of Cameron Hill was long occupied by the Prebuls.
The very attractive two-story house at 300 Cameron St. was built in 1929. It was the depths of the Depression, though there were several Cameron Hill homes and apartments going up at the same time.
The house featured an interesting rock entryway as well as a handsome stone fireplace at the south end. There was a fan window at the front left. The house looked like a one-story at the top, but it had a large lower section on the steep hillside below.
Albert H. Garnier and his wife, Mary B. Purvine Garnier, got to be the first occupants of the house that was just down from Boynton Park at Cameron Hill's peak. Albert helped his father in their Joe Garnier & Son plumbing business.
Joe Garnier had died a couple of years earlier. He was also a Cameron Hill resident, living at 426 Poplar St. Garnier had lived in Chattanooga for 47 years and was a well-known resident, serving the plumbing needs of many families. His daughters were Doris L. and Louise. Doris lived with her brother at the Cameron St. house. The Garniers were members of Second Presbyterian Church at the foot of Cameron Hill.
The Garniers stayed just a few years at 300 Cameron, then her father, William C. Purvine, moved in. Sidney L. Smith also lived in the basement of the large house. The Purvines had previously lived at 505 Poplar. Mrs. Purvine had died in January 1930. There was a son, Ernest Harvey Purvine, in addition to the daughter who married Albert Garnier. W.C. Purvine was back on Poplar Street - this time at 514 Poplar - when he died suddenly at his home in October 1938. He had worked at Hedges-Walsh-Weidner (the future Combustion and then Alstom) since 1912. The Purvines also attended Second Presbyterian. Ernest Purvine later moved away to Decatur, Ga., where his son, Ernest Jr., lived.
The Joe Prebuls had moved into 300 Cameron in the early 1940s. He was born in 1901 at Lubelskie, Poland, and had come to the U.S. in the early 1920s. He married Edith Parnett. He and Edith lived for a number of years at 324 Cedar St. Then they had the opportunity to move up the hill almost as high as Boynton Park.
Joe Prebul was first in the grocery business. He was involved with Chattanooga Butcher Supply Company. Then he went into the refrigeration business.
The Prebuls were living on Cameron Street with their daughter, Janette, and son, Abraham, when Joe Prebul began suffering from a heart ailment. He died in a Chattanooga hospital in 1945 at the young age of 44. He was buried at B'Nai Zion Cemetery.
The widow, Edith, stayed on for many years in her fine Cameron Street home. She stayed on the main floor of the house, but was able to divide the lower section into three different apartments. Her tenants in the final days of Cameron Hill included J.C. Crockett, T.J. Greeson and D.C. Earnest.
Edith was a member of the B'Nai Zion Congregation and was a life member of the Hadassah. By the time she died in 1971 her beloved Cameron Street was just a memory.
Her daughter, Janette, married Bernard H. Kronenberg.
Her son, Abe, graduated from Chattanooga High School and attended the University of Tennessee. He was in the Army Air Corps in World War II.
Abe Prebul settled in East Ridge, and he became commissioner of public works there. The Prebul home was at 3627 Glen Oaks Dr.
He was active in the Chattanooga Jaycees and in the Jaycees in East Ridge when a chapter was established there.
Abe Prebul became a car salesman at Hailey Chevrolet and was chosen outstanding salesman of the year by the National Sales Executive Club. Afterward, he went out on his own and became one of the nation's most successful auto dealers, beginning in 1956 with a small lot on Ringgold Road. He was an American Motors dealer and later gained the Jeep and Renault franchises. He also established a dealership on Highway 153 near Northgate Mall. He rose to be chairman of the Dealers Advisory Board for American Motors.
He and his wife, Esther, had a son who was named for his grandfather, Joe Prebul, as well as daughters Lillie and Joyce. Joe Prebul also became a leading Chattanooga auto dealer.