Arcadia Publishing Chattanooga's St. Elmo History Book

During Chattanooga's post–Civil War industrial boom, A.M. Johnson subdivided land inherited by his wife, Thankful, from her industrialist father, James Whiteside. Located on the eastern side of Lookout Mountain, south of Chattanooga, Johnson named his new community St. Elmo after the title of the popular novel by Augusta Evans, who had visited the area before the war and used it as a setting for her book. By 1900, the community had grown to over 2,000 residents and was the home of wealthy industrialists, as well as small business owners and factory workers. Known as Chattanooga's first suburb, the St. Elmo neighborhood is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.