St. Elmo Historic District Guidelines

From introduction: "St. Elmo is a historical residential neighborhood located at the foot of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This neighborhood was developed in the 1880s and by the turn of the century it was home to hundreds of residents. Streetcar lines connected the neighborhood to downtown Chattanooga and it was a preferred residential area of the city during much of the early 20th century. Like many inner city neighborhoods, the appearance and composition of St. Elmo changed in the years following World War II. Increased reliance on the automobile and the movement to the suburbs took their toll on older neighborhoods. Many descendants of the original St. Elmo families left the neighborhood and a number of St. Elmo’s large dwellings were converted to apartments or allowed to deteriorate. Despite these changes the neighborhood still retained much of its architectural character into the 1970s. During this decade, the nation’s renewed commitment to historic preservation took hold, benefiting neighborhoods such as St. Elmo. By the early 1980s the sounds of hammers and saws were frequently heard as property owners rehabilitated their homes. The significance of St. Elmo was officially recognized when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Th e nomination noted the hundreds of pre-1945 dwellings remaining in the neighborhood and its outstanding collection of architectural styles from this period. Over the next decade interest in protecting and maintaining the neighborhood’s unique character grew stronger. The St. Elmo Improvement League played a major role in demonstrating historic preservation’s role to improve the neighborhood’s quality of life. The efforts of the neighborhood were rewarded in 1992 when St. Elmo was designated a local historic district. As a local historic district, rehabilitation work, new construction, and demolition are reviewed by the city’s Historic Zoning Commission. To assist in the Commission’s review process and inform property owners, a booklet of guidelines for St. Elmo was published. While providing good general information concerning appropriate work in the neighborhood, the St. Elmo Design Review Guideline Manual is the response to this request and includes detailed information regarding building rehabilitation and guidelines for new construction." Project funding was provided in part by a 2013 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the City of Chattanooga (project number TN-13-023) administered by the Tennessee State Historic Preservation Office (grant number P13AF00110) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Chattanooga, Tennessee is a Certified Local Government.

St. Elmo Historic District Guidelines

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