St. Elmo "Yesterday and Today"
Hi, my name is Jeff Webb. My family moved to St. Elmo from Chicago, Illinois in 1966. My father worked for General Motor's Electro Motors Division in Chicago until his sudden death at the young age of 40. My mother's and father's families were from Walker and Hamilton Counties so my mother decided we should move back to Chattanooga. She found a big two story house on St. Elmo ave. where she lived until her death.
I attended St. Elmo Elementary School under Herbert W. Kaiser followed by Lookout Jr. High. In mid year of my second year at Lookout the Chattanooga City Schools busing program began so i ended up graduating from Alton Park Jr. High School where C. B. Robinson was principle.
Growing up my sister and i were well known in St. Elmo for delivering the News Free Press after school pulling a little red wagon back when the paper had to be left on the porch.
Former home of Mr. and Mrs. L. E. Beatey.
I moved away from St. Elmo for a few years when i got married but, i couldn't wait to get back to St. Elmo. My wife Alma and I bought the old L .E. Beatey home on St. Elmo Ave. Mr Beatey had operated a barber shop in downtown St. Elmo at 3914 St. Elmo Ave. which later became the site of the Incline Drug and Surgical Co. Mrs. Beatey was the grandmother i never knew so, it's like the house stayed in the family. The Beatey's bought the house new in 1920 so we are only the second family to live here.
While renovating we made sure to keep the house as close to original as we could. Instead of gutting the house we repaired the plaster walls and ceilings and only replaced what had to be replaced. I hope Mrs. Beatey would be pleased.
My sister Vicky, like me moved away for a few years after getting married but, she was the first of us to return to St. Elmo. She bought the old Paul R. Milsaps home right next door to our mother. We both live within one hundred feet to our old childhood home.
Please Enjoy Your Stay In My Saint Elmo
Gen. U.S. Grant on the side of Lookout Mt.
Special thanks go to the following people and publications;
Alma Webb, The Local History Department at the Downtown Library, The Chattanooga Free Press, The Chattanooga Times, Chattanooga Yesterday and Today, The Patten Chronicles, Glen Falls Lookout Mountain, History of the Incline Railway, John Wilson, Paul Heiner, Chattanoogan Magazine, Rodney Pierce, Sharon Skipper Allen, Pat Beatey Pinto, Tim McDonald and Mike Beatey
I dedicate this site to the residents of St. Elmo that care about their community. I would like to give special mention to the following past and present St. Elmo residents:
Goal of this website
I started this website because of it being so hard to find anything on the internet concerning our historic St Elmo community. Most of the older residents have passed away and their children have moved away leaving St Elmo without much of its heritage. I myself have now become an "old timer" and hope that i can pass along some of St Elmo's visual history to the new comers. I see a new energy in our community and hope it will continue for many years. I built this website for all the past and present residents of St Elmo to enjoy. I hope in some way this will help preserve our history.
If you have anything you would like included on this site please email me.
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