MHC News
The next Historical Commission public meeting will be held on Monday, July 17 at 12:00 p.m. in the Community Room at Midtown Hills Police Precinct, 1441 12th Avenue South. You can find a full list of upcoming and previous MHC meetings on our website.
Thank you to everyone who came out last month for the Frederick Stump marker dedication ceremony. It was in the planning stage for many years but we are thankful to the family and the Stump Tavern property owners for persevering in planning a wonderful day of genealogical activities, beginning with the marker unveiling and a tour of the log house. We anticipate many more marker ceremonies in the fall, so follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more information about upcoming ceremonies and more!
|
The Historical Commission approved a historical marker for Werthan Bag Company at their June meeting. The text reads: Built between 1871 and 1882, the Tennessee Manufacturing Company was the largest nineteenth-century cotton mill in the area. Acquired by Werthan Bag Company in 1928, the factory produced textiles and paper bags before World War II and red sandbags during the war. Employing thousands, the company had a major impact on the development of North Nashville. The factory closed by 1995. Redevelopment into residential housing began in 1998. We look forward to seeing this new marker in Germantown by early 2024.
|
|
Construction at our office, Sunnyside at Sevier Park, continues to gain steam, and we’re really starting to see the site transformed. The concrete curbing has been poured for the new entrance off Kirkwood and the 50 car parking lot, and gravel is being brought in and compacted as workers prepare the drive and lot for laying brick. Also, all of the rough framing for Sunnyside’s ell has been completed, and the roofing felt is being installed. We’re working with Dowdle (General Contractor) and Dryden (Architect) on finalizing the reuse of the architectural salvage (wood flooring, doors, windows, mantels, built-in bookcases, window trim, etc.) and its placement in the reconstructed ell. We are also finalizing the integration and detailing of log structures within the ell to ensure it's a visible part of the design, which will allow us to better interpret the history of Sunnyside and Sevier Park. See below to learn more about the archaeology and dendrochronology work happening at the site as well!
Finally, staff completed the field survey work for Phase II of our Cemetery Grant project in mid-June. We surveyed over 100 sites and did several re-checks in Cane Ridge over the course of 10 weeks. This phase of survey focused on sites in Goodlettsville, Madison, East Nashville, Green Hills, and Forest Hills. We are working with Council Member Jennifer Gamble to present at a July 25th District 3 public meeting. This meeting will provide attendees an opportunity to learn more about the grant and cemetery preservation in general, as well as report cemeteries that need to be documented.
MHZC News
The MHZC’s next public hearing will be held on Wednesday, July 19 at 2:00 p.m. at the Sonny West Conference Center, Howard Office Building, 700 President Ronald Regan Way. View the MHZC meeting schedule and application deadlines on our website. Access archived videos of the MHZC meetings on the Metro YouTube channel anytime!
The Planning Commission reappointed Mina Johnson and the Metro Historical Commission reappointed Menié Bell to the Metro Historic Zoning Commission. We are thankful for their continued service.
We are excited to welcome the newest member of our team, Grace Branlund. Grace is from White House, Tennessee and has a degree in Interior Architecture & Design from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Grace will work with the historic zoning team in a newly created position, Historic Zoning Specialist. In this position she will serve as historic zoning’s “front desk”, assisting applicants, property owners and other departments with initial questions regarding processes and the design guidelines, and provide support to the historic zoning commissioners and staff. She is excited to use her design experience to be a part of preserving what makes Nashville so special. Welcome Grace!
|
Dr. Adam Fracchia conducted excavation at Sevier Park to document a Civil War feature and expose a late 19th-century cistern. He’ll oversee it's excavation in mid-July, and we hope to learn more about the site’s history with this project. This and other archaeological information will be included on interpretive panels in the park.
Dr. Maegen Rochner, an Assistant Professor of Geographic and Environmental Sciences at the University of Louisville who oversees the university’s dendrochronology lab, and two of her students were at Sunnyside in late June. She and her team took core samples from logs that make up the oldest portion of Sunnyside, the log structures within the ell. Once they’ve analyzed the samples, we hope they’ll be able to definitely date the oldest portions of the building.
Dendrochronology, or tree-ring dating, is the science that assigns accurate calendar dates to the yearly growth rings produced by trees. Samples are obtained by means of an increment borer, a simple metal tube of small diameter that can be driven into a tree to get a core sample. The core is split in the laboratory, the rings are counted and measured, and the sequence of rings is correlated with sequences from other cores. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmospheric conditions during different periods in history from the wood of old trees. Dendrochronology is useful for determining the precise age of samples, especially those that are too recent for radiocarbon dating, which always produces a range rather than an exact date.
|
Travellers Rest Historic House Museum recently received a $500,000 appropriation from the State of Tennessee to repair and preserve this important historic building. Built in 1799, the historic home of Judge John Overton is the centerpiece of a historic site where professional staff provide educational programs for both children and adults about nearly 1,000 years of Tennessee history from the time of the original native inhabitants through Twentieth Century urbanization.
“The historic house is in immediate need of preservation. We are very grateful to the elected officials who helped us secure the funds necessary to undertake this work,” says Katie O’Bryan, Ph.D., Executive Director of Travellers Rest Historic House Museum. The brick wall between the 1808 and 1828 addition is separating and needs to be repaired. The state funds will go towards this project. Work is expected to commence before the end of the year."
The $500,000 grant from the State is approximately half of what is necessary to meet the preservation needs of the historic house and will serve as a catalyst to raise the remainder of the funding for preservation work. “It has been almost thirty years since Travellers Rest last conducted a capital campaign,” says Board President-Elect Laura Roberts, “and the Board of Directors of Travellers Rest welcomes friends of the organization and the greater Middle Tennessee community to contribute to the future of this unique site that provides history education to children and adults of all ages.” More information is available at www.HistoricTravellersRest.org or via email to Executive Director Dr. Katie O’Bryan at director@historictravellersrest.org or Director of Development Jenny Esler at jenny@historictravellersrest.org.
|
DEADLINE--July 11, 2023--History of Equal Rights Grants Program
The National Park Service is now accepting applications for the History of Equal Rights (HER) grant program. Congress has appropriated $5 million for the FY 2023 grants. Grant projects fund physical preservation or pre-preservation of sites associated with efforts to achieve equal rights. The History of Equal Rights grants are not limited to any specific group and are intended to include the broadest possible interpretation of equal rights for any American.
DEADLINE--July 18, 2023--Underrepresented Communities Grants
The National Park Service’s Underrepresented Communities Grant Program (URC) is now accepting applications for FY2023 competitive grants. The National Park Service’s Underrepresented Communities Grant Program (URC) works towards diversifying the nominations submitted to the National Register of Historic Places. Projects include surveys and inventories of historic properties associated with communities underrepresented in the National Register, as well as the development of nominations to the National Register for specific sites. Congress has appropriated $1.25 million for the 2023 URC Grant Program.
 Join us for the third Rep. John Lewis Way Annual March on Saturday, July 15, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. The march begins at Rep. John Lewis Way and Jefferson Street and ends with performances outside Ryman Auditorium. Visit www.johnlewisway.com for more information.
This year, the Rep. John Lewis Way committee is also hosting the Good Trouble Book Drive to collect 500 books for students in grades 4-12. Books can be purchased or dropped off at Parnassus Books and Alkebu-Lan Images. Email Ashford Hughes Sr. with questions.
Don't forget about the weekly Centennial Park History Tours.
Tour the Nashville City Cemetery on their Second Saturday Free Walking Tour on July 8 from 10:00-11:00 am.
Enjoy free admission for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) students, staff, and faculty— and their entire families--on July 18 during MNPS STEAM Night.
You can always catch a Summer Tours at Two Rivers Mansion!
Join Dr. Adam Fracchia and Rachel Carter Koch at Warner Park Nature Center to learn about the amazing archaeological record found in and around Warner Park and what you can do to preserve it on July 25 at 6:00 pm.
 |
|
|
MNPD will discuss their recent ballistics research at Sunnyside in a presentation at Fort Negley Visitors Center on July 13 at 5:00 pm. Email Dr. Adam Fracchia with any questions.
Historian and author Walter Green will talk about the Nashville & Decatur Railroad in the Civil War during the Civil War Roundtable at Fort Negley on July 18 at 7:00 pm.
Fort Donelson Camp No. 62 Sons of Union Veterans meet at Fort Negley on July 25 from 6:00-7:30 pm.
|
|
Check out The Gift That Keeps on Giving: A Display of Mayoral Gifts at Metro Archives, on the third floor of the Main Library, through July 30.
Make bedazzled buttons with the Country Music Hall of Fame at the North branch on July 20 at 10:00 am.
See Moments from the Movement about Deputy Mayor Brenda Haywood's experience desegregating Stratford High School in 1963, on display in the second floor gallery of the Main Library until August 31.
**Broadway Bridge/ State Route 1 (US 70) Broadway Viaduct closure from July 7-September 7**
Downtown Nashville Riverfront--Let Freedom Sing!--July 4
Lane Motor Museum--Weekend Vault Tours--each weekend in July
Ryman Auditorium--Save the Morris Building Benefit with Grandmaster Flash & Friends--July 15
Tennessee State Museum--TN Writers|TN Stories: Ruta Sepetys--July 15
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum--Book Talk: David Morton Discusses DeFord Bailey--July 28
Frist Art Museum--Storied Strings: The Guitar in American Art--closes August 13
National Museum of African American Music--Nissan Free Wednesday--free admission on the first Wednesday of each month courtesy of Nissan
Cheekwood Estate and Gardens--Thursday Night Out--each Thursday at 6:00 pm
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum--Historic Music Row: Nashville's Creative Crossroads--online exhibit
Frist Art Museum--Architecture Tours--each Saturday from 3:30-4:30 pm
Check out our online newsletter archives!
Have a preservation-related event that you want us to include? Send a message to Jessica.Reeves@nashville.gov
|
