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Chattanooga, TN
Thankful Memorial Episcopal Church
1607 West 43rd Street
Chattanooga, TN
423-821-3131
Located in
Chattanooga
’s St. Elmo Historic District, Thankful Memorial was founded as a mission of
St. Paul
’s Episcopal Church to accommodate the growing population of Episcopalians who settled south of town at the foot of
Lookout
Mountain
.
After the yellow fever epidemic of 1878, many Chattanoogans sought refuge south of town in what was then a “remote” area. Col. A.M. Johnson, who owned most of the land in the area, began subdividing his farm and many families who had lived in town flocked to the area. Among those who helped settle the area were several prominent Episcopal families who worshiped at
St. Paul
’s. By the 1890’s a street car connected downtown with St. Elmo, but the Sunday trip into town was not convenient, thus a need for some form of worship in the neighborhood was recognized.
In October of 1893 the Guild of St. Elmo Sunday School was formed. In 1898 the Rt. Rev. Thomas F. Gailor sent the Rev. William G. Robertson to conduct services for the Guild, formally ushering-in the group as an Episcopal mission. Col. Johnson died in 1903, leaving a lot that was designated as property upon which would be built an Episcopal church. Col. Johnson’s wishes specified that the parish be named in memory of his wife, Thankful Anderson Whiteside.
In 1904 the current structure was begun. The completed building was a fine Gothic revival structure of native stone which incorporated a large stone that had been part of the foundation of the “Old St. Paul’s” in downtown. Several of the stained glass windows in the church came from the Johnson home. Thankful Memorial’s bell has been on loan from
St. Paul
’s since it was installed in 1911.
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