What are local historic districts?
Local historic districts are praised as a way to preserve classic architecture, but criticized as way to perpetuate exclusivity. Learn about Chattanooga’s four districts – St. Elmo, Fort Wood, Ferger Place, and Battery Place.
By William Newlin
Fast facts
Chattanooga has four local historic districts: Battery Place, Ferger Place, Fort Wood, and St. Elmo
Local historic districts are a designation (approved by City Council) that is separate from the National Register of Historic Places
Each district has a set of style guidelines, created and enforced by The Chattanooga Historic Zoning Commission
Any property owner or civic or historic group can apply for their neighborhood to become a local historic district
Living in a local historic district
Chattanoogans who live in the city’s local historic districts often have a strong sense of pride for their neighborhood. Ruth Ann Graham even wrote a book about Ferger Place, the 70-house subdivision tucked off East Main Street where she lives. Built in 1910 by the Ferger brothers, it’s one of four local historic districts in Chattanooga along with St. Elmo, Fort Wood, and Battery Place.
“A funny thing about Ferger place is your home is known as the name of the people who owned it decades and decades ago,” Graham said. “We’re gonna have to live in it and then die in it before it will be known as the Graham house.”
Each one except Battery Place landed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970s and ’80s, and all four became local historic districts in the early 1990s.
The move to create the four local historic districts in the 1990s was likely due to residents’ concerns about losing the sense of place attached to neighborhoods with long histories and classic home styles, said Melissa Mortimer, a former member of the Historic Zoning Commission and current member of the City’s historic planning department.
“It is likely that the neighborhoods began to see development or changes in the '90s,” she said. “That's usually kind of what spurs looking at becoming a historic district.”
Are local historic districts inherently exclusive?
There are currently more than 2,300 local historic districts in the United States. The designation is lauded as a way to preserve local architecture and history, although some criticize local historic districts as a way to perpetuate exclusivity and memorialize a past that instituted racist housing policies.
For instance, the original housing deeds for all the homes in Ferger Place specify that, for the next 99 years, houses in that development could only be sold to white buyers. These kinds of racial covenants were not uncommon in the United States during that era, but they were deemed unenforceable by the Supreme Court in 1948 and finally made illegal with the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968.
Todd Morgan, who runs the local nonprofit Preserve Chattanooga, compared Ferger Place at the time it was built to the exclusivity of modern gated communities. But more than 100 years later, he understands how the architecture of its homes attract buyers who are more interested in the craftsmanship than the legacy of exclusion.
Going forward, he said equitable decisions about historic zoning and preservation come from community conversations, and he encouraged the creation of more engaged neighborhood associations.
“(In) Chattanooga, it's your urban neighborhoods that really make the city so wonderful,” Morgan said. “Character-rich, walkable neighborhoods are so important. And if we don't work together to preserve that sense of place for everybody, the whole city, I think, suffers from that.”
Following the rules
Chattanooga’s four local historic districts include more than 1,700 houses, apartments, and other buildings. Property owners must follow a set of guidelines for their specific neighborhood, and some are more stringent than others. For instance, Fort Wood’s guidelines specify that when replacing a roof, homeowners should match the original materials (such as metal, copper, slate, or tile) as closely as possible, rather than using standard asphalt shingles.
Although Graham said the regulations can be frustrating at times — and costly to homeowners — she appreciates the camaraderie that comes from local historic district status:
“You’re just sort of united in the struggle that is owning a 100-plus-year-old home,” Graham said.
In Knoxville, where Morgan previously lived and worked, his nonprofit Knox Heritage partnered with the city and offered grants to help people living in one historic neighborhood pay for changes. Although we don’t have a grant system like that in place in Chattanooga, Morgan said he’d like to explore creating one.
Chattanooga’s local historic districts
These are Chattanooga’s four local historic districts. To see a list of locations included on the National Register of Historic places, use this search tool.
Fort Wood
Fort Wood became the first local historic district in 1990. It’s also one of the oldest, getting its name from the Union army’s Fort Wood located near present day Erlanger Hospital. Stretching from Palmetto Street to Central Avenue, its main architectural features include 19th and 20th century homes, wide sidewalks, and raised lots with retaining walls. A prime example of the architecture is the Mayor’s Mansion Inn on Vine Street, which was built in 1889 for Edmond Watkins, who became Chattanooga’s mayor in 1897.
Battery Place
Battery Place also has its roots in the Civil War, housing canons that overlooked Maclellan Island in the Tennessee River. It’s by far the smallest local historic district in Chattanooga with just 22 addresses nestled next to Veterans Bridge. Still, it has a wide range of architectural styles and building types, including two early 1900s apartment complexes. The area became known as Battery Place during further development in the 1920s. Along with Ferger Place, it became a local historic district in 1991.
Ferger Place
Ferger Place, which opened in 1910 as a private gated neighborhood, is a U-shaped neighborhood consisting of 70 homes off East Main Street. Framed by the parallel Morningside and Eveningside Drives, Ferger Place homes feature styles popular in the 1910s-1930s. The neighborhood’s Henriette Park is owned and managed by Ferger Place residents.
St. Elmo
St. Elmo is the oldest of the neighborhoods (founded in 1885) and was designated as a local historic district in 1992. It’s huge compared to the other districts, comprising more than 1,500 homes and buildings at the base of Lookout Mountain. The buildings date back to the late 19th century, which you can still see in the Presbyterian Church of St. Elmo founded in 1889.
What about other historic neighborhoods in Chattanooga?
There are still plenty of historical homes, buildings and areas in Chattanooga that don’t fall under the purview of the historic zoning commission. Missionary Ridge, Stringers Ridge, Downtown Chattanooga, M.L.K. Boulevard, and Glenwood are all on the national register but don’t have local historic status.
“Sometimes you'll get a few people from a neighborhood saying, ‘You know, we're a national register district, why are we not a local district?’” Mortimer said. “It could be that the neighborhood hasn't gone in that direction or requested being locally designated.”
How to apply for Local Historic District status
Any property owner, neighborhood association, or civic group can apply to turn a neighborhood into a local historic district — the application is available on the historic planning and zoning website. The approval process requires a lot of information, including the construction dates of all buildings within a proposed district and records of its historical significance.
What are the benefits?
The Chattanooga Historic Zoning Commission oversees all proposed construction and renovation within the local historic districts. To make changes to the exteriors of their homes, residents have to get a certificate of appropriateness based on guidelines in Chattanooga’s legal code as well as district-specific rules. Some are more relaxed than others, but it creates a tradeoff for homeowners between protecting the look and feel of old buildings and customizing homes.
“Without the guidelines they could be wiped out,” Mortimer said. “I mean, if you look at Cameron Hill — that used to be a beautiful historic neighborhood. All those beautiful historic homes and now they're gone. You never know what can happen.”
To Graham, local historic district status brings residents together with a shared purpose. That’s especially true in Ferger Place with its two streets and Henriette Park, home of the annual “Ferg-tober Fest.”
“I feel like it’s a really sacred duty to be a steward of this community and the physical structures in it and, indeed, the people therein,” she said.
— Karina Perez contributed to the research and writing of this story.