Like Lyerly, Menlo replaced another once-thriving town when the railroad bypassed previously bustling Alpine. In 1891, the Chattanooga Southern Railway was built and passed through the area near the property of Captain Andrew J. Lawrence. Captain Lawrence, a Confederate Veteran, is considered the father of Menlo. He and his estate donated the land for most of the town’s schools and churches—with particular attention to those for African American citizens. Near the center of the town, Lawrence Park was given to Menlo in 1915. Captain Lawrence held inventor Thomas A. Edison in very high esteem, thus the town was named for Edison’s home and laboratory at Menlo Park, New Jersey .
Menlo Photo Archive
Menlo Colored School, closed 1960
Chattoogans atop Umbrella Rock on Lookout Mt. in Chattanooga
Menlo High School football team 1960
Menlo First Baptist Church 1905, one of the very first pictures in the Summerville News
Ad in Summerville News promoting buying war bonds in World War One
Out for a drive in front of the Baker home in Menlo
