Burlington, also known as the Elliston-Farrell House, was a historic mansion on a plantation in mid-town
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
, US. It stood on modern-day Elliston Place.
History
The plantation was established by
Joseph T. Elliston
Joseph Thorpe Elliston (1779 - November 10, 1856) was an American silversmith, planter and politician. He served as the fourth mayor of Nashville, Tennessee from 1814 to 1817. He owned land in mid-town Nashville, on parts of modern-day Centennial ...
, a silversmith who served as the fourth mayor of Nashville from 1814 to 1817.
In 1811, Elliston purchased 208 acres for $11,435.75 in mid-town, from "what is now 20th Avenue to a line covering part of
Centennial Park, and from a line well within the
Vanderbilt campus today to
Charlotte Avenue
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populou ...
."
He subsequently purchased 350 acres "along what is now Murphy Road, including the Acklen Park
est End Parkarea."
It ran across
West End Avenue
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...
, which had not yet been built.
Elliston built a small house in 1816, and he named it Burlington "after the Elliston homestead in Kentucky."
The house stood on modern-day Elliston Place.
It was designed by
William Strickland in the
Renaissance architectural style.
His son
William R. Elliston
William R. Elliston (1815–1870) was an American planter, slaveholder and politician. He served as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1845 to 1847. He owned Burlington Plantation in what is now Nashville, Tennessee. An inv ...
, who served as a member of the
Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.
Constitutional requirements
According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...
from 1845 to 1847, inherited the plantation in 1856. With his wife Elizabeth Boddie, he built a bigger house on his father's old house in 1859.
The Ellistons were slaveholders.
The plantation was inherited by their daughter, Lizinka. With her husband, Edward Buford, a Confederate veteran, she built a new house in 1887.
By 1889 they had sold most of the land to the West End Land Company for development.
Part of the land was also donated to build the campus of Vanderbilt University.
The house was dismantled in 1932.
However, the materials were used by the Shepherds, who were descendants of the Ellistons, to build a new mansion called Burlington in
Green Hills, designed by architect
Bryant Fleming
Bryant Fleming (July 19, 1877 – September 19, 1946) was an American architect and landscape architect.
Early life
Fleming was born on July 19, 1877 in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Cornell University in 1901, where he studied horticulture ...
.
In 2012, Vanderbilt University named Elliston Hall for Elizabeth Boddie Elliston.
In a 2017 article, ''USA Today'' questioned their decision to honor a slaveholder on their campus.
Further reading
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References
Houses completed in 1816
Houses in Nashville, Tennessee
Demolished buildings and structures in Tennessee
Plantation houses in Tennessee
Renaissance architecture in the United States
1816 establishments in Tennessee
Buildings and structures demolished in 1932
1932 disestablishments in Tennessee
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