What Are Nashville’s Oldest Buildings?

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One of the oldest historic houses you can visit is Travellers Rest, a plantation house that judge John Overton built in 1799. Wikipedia describes it as a two-story structure with four rooms. Overton was an adviser and close friend of Andrew Jackson, and the plantation was worked for many years by enslaved Black people (Wikipedia). The house grew with an addition in 1812 and a long ell soon after 1820. At Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage, where Jackson lived from 1804 until his death, the Greek Revival mansion dates from 1819, according to the landmark listing summarized on Wikipedia. Downtown, the Tennessee State Capitol was built from 1845 to 1859. Architect William Strickland, who designed it, also designed the Egyptian Revival church now known as the Downtown Presbyterian Church. Seven Nashville buildings or sites are National Historic Landmarks (Wikipedia).

Nashville’s National Historic Landmarks

Landmark Built Designated
The Hermitage mansion built 1819 December 19, 1960
George Peabody College for Teachers campus of the former University of Nashville December 21, 1965
Tennessee State Capitol 1845 to 1859 November 11, 1971
Jubilee Hall, Fisk University completed 1876 December 2, 1974
Old First Presbyterian Church (Downtown Presbyterian) designed by William Strickland April 19, 1993
Ryman Auditorium 1885 to 1892 January 3, 2001
Hermitage Hotel, 231 6th Ave. N. designated for its role in the women's suffrage movement August 21, 2020

Source: Wikipedia, List of National Historic Landmarks in Tennessee, Davidson County entries (7). Nashville Union Station and Trainshed appears on the list’s former-landmark section.

Other Old Buildings Worth Seeing

  1. Travellers Rest (1799): the earliest of the houses here, with later additions in 1812 and after 1820.
  2. Belle Meade: a farm established in 1807 and run by five generations of the Harding-Jackson family. Today it is the Belle Meade Historic Site and Winery on 30 remaining acres, with a dairy, carriage house, stable, and the original Harding Cabin (Wikipedia).
  3. Ryman Auditorium: built from 1885 to 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle (Wikipedia).

The Capitol’s story is in how Nashville became the capital of Tennessee, and the Ryman’s is in what the Ryman Auditorium is.

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