Wilson County's Antebellum Landscape: A Past Worth Preserving
Wilson County's Antebellum Landscape: A Past Worth Preserving
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Date
2020-12-02
Authors
Jacober, Elijah
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University Honors College Middle Tennessee State University
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to create a photographic record of the extant
buildings built prior to the American Civil War in Wilson County, Tennessee. Previously,
a complete survey of Wilson County’s historic buildings, or specifically, its antebellum
buildings, did not exist. The need for this survey was evident as these buildings are being
continually lost to neglect and to the expansion of Nashville’s suburbs. By thoroughly
and methodically scanning Wilson County’s roads on Google Earth and referring to the
National Register of Historic Places and local history books, I developed a list of every
extant building (excluding outbuildings) that was likely to have been constructed before
the Civil War, as far as was practical and possible. I then photographed each of these
buildings—75 houses and 1 church—and researched and analyzed each one to write a
brief paragraph to a page describing the building and, where possible, its history. These
pictures and descriptions are intended to provide an accurate view of the remains of the
antebellum architectural landscape in Wilson County. Some buildings in this survey
warrant or require further research, and their pictures and descriptions here could be the
basis for further research and for National Register nominations.
Description
Keywords
College of Liberal Arts,
Tennessee history,
Wilson County,
historic architecture,
vernacular architecture,
historic homes,
antebellum,
historic preservation,
survey