2 New Remarkable Cameron Hill Home Photographs Surface

  • Saturday, February 4, 2023
  • John Wilson

Two new remarkable photographs of the mansions that once stood on Chattanooga's Cameron Hill have surfaced.

Sam Hall of Chattanoogahistory.com said they were provided courtesy of Jerry Wormsley of Soddy Daisy.

They were on glass negatives - one of the earliest forms of storing pictures.

One is a new view of one of Cameron's Hill's finest homes - that of Capt. H.S. Chamberlain on the fashionable East Terrace.

The house was built at a unique position on Cameron Hill capturing both the east and the west views.

The other photo shows multiple fine homes at the point where Ninth Street ended at the East Terrace. Off to the right went Magazine Street. It later was merged into East Terrace.

The central home in the photo is the stone mansion of architect and builder John Wesley Adams. He designed and built many of the Cameron Hill beauties.

A house to the right on Magazine was that of Jeremiah Long, an undertaker who lived many years on Cameron Hill.

To the left of the Adams house is the two-story home that belonged to John A. Hart, who was mayor of Chattanooga at one time.

To the left of the Hart home are two elaborate twin duplexes built by the young attorney Charles C. Snyder.

In the photo are four men, a child and a dog.

The photo shows a raised, flat stone at the bottom of the steep steps to the Adams mansion. This was a carriage stone used for help in climbing into a carriage in the days of the horse and buggy. A number of East Terrace homes had similar carriage stones.

The Chamberlains still occupied their Cameron Hill mansion at the time it was decided to raze it and others during Urban Renewal. The Adams home and others by it were also knocked down.

Using two previously known East Terrace photos, coupled with this one, it is possible to obtain a continuous view of a considerable distance of the East Terrace.

To access Mr. Hall's post about the two photographs go to:

https://chattanoogahistory.com/cameronhomes

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