ST. ELMO, by Augusta Evans Wilson, is my favorite novel. The book, published in 1866, was so popular that towns, dogs, children, and cigars were named in honor of it. The novel opens in a village at the bottom of Lookout Mountain. While the story is fiction, the village is real. Augusta Evans Wilson visited Lookout Mountain and had friends in Chattanooga, so she chose the village at the foot of Lookout Mountain for the setting. The village is now a subdivision called St. Elmo.
My dream of visiting St. Elmo came true last week when I was passing through Chattanooga. I took photos of just about everything with St. Elmo written on it, including buildings and street signs. The main attraction in St. Elmo is the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway. The original railway was built around 1895. The current railway was finished in the 1980s. It has all the thrill of a rollercoaster and more because it goes up and down the side of Lookout Mountain.
For more information about the village and it’s connection to the ST ELMO novel, I recommend CHATTANOOGA’S ST. ELMO, by Gay Morgan Moore, and ST ELMO YESTERDAY AND TODAY: “The Story of a Community,” by Jeffery C. Webb.
Related articles
- ST. ELMO and THE PASSION OF MISS AUGUSTA (theprinceinthetower.wordpress.com)
- St. Elmo Named One of the Best (liveyoungchattanoogablog.wordpress.com)
- St. Elmo selected as a Best Neighborhood by ‘This Old House’ (timesfreepress.com)
Related articles
- ST. ELMO and THE PASSION OF MISS AUGUSTA (theprinceinthetower.wordpress.com)
- ST ELMO: What’s in a Name? (theprinceinthetower.wordpress.com)
JOHN GILBERT, ST. ELMO, & ME 