Posted: 10/22/2011 3:00:43 PM EDT
Another stop on my (seemingly) endless photo essay trek around TN for all things fun, historic & interesting. And yes, it has to be all three to qualify to be arfcom worthy. 
So this part is Edgefield, Nashville's original suburb. I guess formally it takes up Russell, Fatherland & Boscobel Streets for those keeping score. While it might be considered part of what is known as East Nashville, it is an entity unto itself from a historical perspective. I'll allow the esteemed David Lewis (historian extraordinaire of all things historical & particularly TN/southern related.  ) to offer comments on where he needs to provide some background. For those whom may not know, David is a home grown Nashville guy & has his Masters from Vahn-derbilt in History. IOW, he's a smart young man. Funny too.
Anyhow, Edgefield is just across the Cumberland River from Downtown Nash., usually by the Woodland St. Bridge. Edgefield is famous locally for a few things: the Great East Nashville Fire, the Tornado of 1930-something & the tornado(s) of the late 1990s. David can provide the accurate years as well as info on the older of the two. I actually drove thru this area the night of the 1990s tornado(s) & just couldn't believe the amount of trees down. When you see some of these pics you'll understand how dangerous that was/is. Speaking as one who cut seemingly a forest this past spring in my own yard due to the wind damage, you have no idea how HEAVY just a bit of tree is, never mind these huge trees. Sadly, Edgefield is just about surrounded by housing projects of one sort or another. While urban renewal has indeed been in the area for several years now, there's still some pretty rough areas down near South 5th St. IOW, a 3 Gun match can be had there with mandatory reloads. 
Anyone is free to comment on any of the pics, in case I had to state the obvious. I know how shy some of ya can be............... 
This is the Carnegie Library. No doubt it was built post-war with Carnegie $$$, just as Vanderbilt was built with their family $$$. No clue as to the year, that's David's part. 
Not real sure what this thing is. Someone out there must know...............? 
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Quoted:
I'll allow the esteemed David Mosley (historian extraordinaire of all things historical & particularly TN/southern related. ) to offer comments on where he needs to provide some background. For those whom may not know, David is a home grown Nashville guy & has his Masters from Vahn-derbilt in History. IOW, he's a smart young man. Funny too.Whointhehell is David Mosley?
You talkin' to me? You talking to ME?
David (Lewis, not Mosley) Tennessee Firearms Association TFA Forum |
Woodland Presbyterian Church, just across the street from the Carnegie Library. The dome on the church makes it look a bit different, IMO. Which leads me to mention the amount of minarets (sp?) on the houses in the neighborhood. I wonder if this was a Masonic influence from the architects of the era or something else? Looks like David will get to earn his pay on this thread.................
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This is East High School. East was one of the original 5 HS's in Nashville. I believe they were Central, North, East, West & Donelson. North HS was were all the black kids went, until Pearl & Cameron HS's were built in the 1930s. Pearl has been torn down, I believe. David will fill us in on the errors on my part, I'm sure.
But multiple mayors, doctors & other polished folks graduated from East HS thru the years. It was only in the mid-1960s when the urban kids were the majority & it wasn't cool to live downtown like that. 
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Quoted:
Whointhehell is David Mosley?
You talkin' to me? You talking to ME?
David (Lewis, not Mosley) Tennessee Firearms Association TFA Forum Hey, you're gonna be old like me someday.........................
I was talking about Mosley with another guy this week & obviously it stayed in my head. Trust me, you don't want to be Mosley. At one time, he owed John Arnold around $15,000~, owed the bank about 2-3 times that & had some checks returned for NSF. At the same time, he & his wife of 20~ years divorced & his daughters wouldn't speak to him afterwards. So...................................... my sincere apologies.
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This is the park where Metro wanted to relocate one of their fire stations. What a huge loss that would be to lose this park, IMO. 
This is looking out the left field line of the softball field, obviously towards downtown. At night, I bet it'd be cool to see the skyline lit, have a cold beverage in a lawn chair & watch a softball game. 
As one can see, there's not much room between the playing field & the actual road. I'd bet there's cars parked all along this street at night too. 
Looking down the 1st base line towards RF. With no outfield fence, I bet there's some loooooooooooong fly balls caught out there. But again, playing at night with that skyline as a backdrop would have to be just too cool.
These apartments were where the Edgefield sign is, just across the street from the ballpark. 
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This is quite possibly THE coolest house in Nashville, IMO. Identified as The Hamilton House, it has been known by other names as well. Former mayor Bill Boner once owned it & it was also where the TN Gov for a while. Again, David will be along to provide details.
But it fronts the park & can be easily seen when one drives down Woodland St. 3 stories tall with a basement also. Just as I walked up, the owners pulled in with their vehicles. Turns out the wife graduated at the same school, at the same year my mother began teaching. So with that as my intro, she proceeded to help me on the house's history & so forth. Huge yard as well. I can't imagine what their landscaping & property taxes are. I do promise to buy it when I hit the Powerball & have a nice little arfcom/TFA party on the lawn. Catered, of course.
This is Panzer, guard dog with style.
You can see the "B" in the door. I don't know if this was for "Boner", but I thought the husband/owner told me the Bush Family built this house as they owned a brickworks. I think he also told me the Bush family built a yet bigger house just down the street. 
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Unbelieveable how they've kept this full-sized yard thru the years. And yes, that 6' wrought iron fence runs all the way around the property. 5-6 acre tract, someone can do the math on the linear length of the fence & its cost were it to be done today.
This is standing in the church's parking lot, looking at the west side of the house. Lots of green to help cool off that summer TN sun. The old guys were green before the tree huggers even knew how to be green.
Love the curved brickwork. 
I didn't really see a driveway on my stroll around this house. I don't know if they park on the street or what. But the brick on the garage matched the age of the house, no doubt originally a carriage house or stable. 
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OK, Bob...sorry it's taken me a few days to get to this. I have a book on East Nashville/Edgefield, which would provide a whole lot
more information, but I can't find it at the moment. So, lacking my primary resource, here goes: The East Nashville Branch of the Nashville Public Library is one of two remaining Carnegie libraries in Nashville (the other is the North branch, off of 8th & Jefferson, or thereabouts––been a while since I've been in it). Here's the info from the NPL ste: The fourth of the original Carnegie libraries in Nashville, East was praised as an "architectural gem" when it opened on May 8, 1919. Having survived floods and tornadoes, East was beautifully restored in 2000 to reverse modern renovations made in the 1960s. The building features a limestone exterior, a marble foyer, large chandeliers, oak tables and chairs and many other special features. East Branch is a Metro Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The North Branch is the only other surviving Carnegie public library building in Nashville.
Woodland Presbyterian church Moved to it's present location at North 11th Street and Gartland Avenue following the destruction by fire of it's previous building in 1916. The main part of the present building, constructed during World War I, was dedicated in November of 1918. The church's website says this about the building: The Centennial wing of the building, added in 1958, was renovated by the Martha O'Bryan Center in 1994 for their use while a new building was built at their South 7th Street location. In the spring of 1998, a tornado swept through East Nashville, seriously damaging the Woodland Church building and setting renovations back by several years. After repairs were completed almost 18 months later, the Centennial wing began to be used by Community IMPACT!, a non-profit organization working with inner-city high school students, and by Linden Corner School, a Waldorf education program for young children.
Edgefield Baptist http://www.edgefieldbaptist.org/Building%20&%20History.htm The plans for the structure were drawn by the firm of Wheeler, Runge, and Dickey and ground was broken on December 12, 1905. The design was described in a Nashville Banner article as “a thoroughly modern building with auditorium and Sunday School room so arranged as to be thrown into one room when needed, seating over 1,000 people. In addition there will be twenty separate classrooms, ladies parlors, etc., and a large basement for social purposes.”
Work commenced on January 1, 1906, the cornerstone was laid on April 29, 1906...and the first service took place on January 6, 1907. ... The structure is a Gothic design, with red brick and trimmed with stone. There are towers at each corner of the main structure and a gable bay with a large window at the center of each street facade. The door and window openings have pointed arches. The large stained glass windows have simple Gothic tracery. Stone-capped buttresses are located at the corners of the towers and on both sides of the large windows. The taller tower is distinguished by slender lancet windows. A unique feature of the interior is the solid wooden door separating the two auditoriums. The door can be raised into the attic by means of cables, operated by an electric motor. In November of 1907, a Moller pipe organ was installed. The organ includes more than 1,000 pipes. It was used for the first time on February 23, 1908. The original cost was $3,000. Dr. Cree personally secured $1,500 of the fund for the organ from philanthropist Mr. Andrew Carnegie. The dedicatory service was March 13, 1908 and was sponsored by the Ladies’ Aid Society. The program included some of the best musical talent of the city. The organ was rebuilt in 1972 and was reconditioned following the 1998 tornado. In 1983, Maas-Rowe Cathedral Chimes were added to the organ. They were given as a memorial by the family of Mr. William Bowlin, a church member and Metropolitan Nashville police officer who lost his life in the line of duty in August 1982. Symbolism is a part of Christian worship, and we see this portrayed in the four smaller stained glass windows of the sanctuary. The Dove - Reminds us of Noah and the flood and of God’s care. The Cross and the Crown - Denotes not only our Lord’s kingly office, but expresses the fact that we have eternal life through Him as well. The Ten Commandments - Shows man’s duty to God and to his neighbor. The Shock of Wheat - Reminds us of Joseph and of God’s care of His people in Egypt. Also, it reminds us of our evangelistic responsibility as expressed in the hymn, “Bringing in the Sheaves”. The two larger center stained-glass windows in the sanctuary were given as memorial gifts: The Good Shepherd - The large window facing Russell Street was given by the Truett family in memory of their parents, Mr. & Mrs. Ezekial Truett who were charter members of the church. This window was refurbished in 1999. Jesus Walking on the Water - The large window facing Seventh Street was given out of love and esteem by friends of Dr. John O. Rust who served as Edgefield pastor from 1895-1903. This window was restored following damage from the 1998 tornado. More about the Hamilton house later...but the "B" is for the Bush family, not Boner. David |
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Quoted:
More about the Hamilton house later...but the "B" is for the Bush family, not Boner. David Thanks for the info!
I do wish you to comment on the architecture (thank goodness for spellcheck! ) of the above & some of the others I've yet to post. I keep seeing these minaret-like corners on the houses in the area. I'm sure it was a period thing but I wondered if it was a Masonic thing?
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Quoted:I keep seeing these minaret-like corners on the houses in the area. I'm sure it was a period thing but I wondered if it was a Masonic thing?
Do you mean turrets & towers? Minarets are an Arab-style tower (think Taj Mahal––yeah, I know, it's Indian, but you get the point!). What I've seen in your photos, & in East Nashville/Edgefield aren't minarets, but turrets & towers. Turrets & towers are typical of the period in both Victorian and Gothic/Romantic/Romanesque revival architecture. A great many of the buildings in that area are from the late 1800s, & are typical in style. The Harrison house (714 Russell) is Dutch Revival...and there are several other Dutch Revival buildings nearby, too. A few doors down from it are examples of Queen Anne style (800 Russell), and one that's described as a Victorian City House (809 Russell St). I'm still looking for my book on the area...really need to find it! David |
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Well, I've been known to use incorrect terminology before......................
Here's a perfect example of what intrigues me: 
Here's another one: 
I don't know if this is the house that the Bush family built after the Hamilton House, but this sucker has 7 chimneys! 
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