Lindsley Hall is a historic building in

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 ...

. Built in the antebellum South as the main building of the

University of Nashville University of Nashville was a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It was established in 1806 as Cumberland College. It existed as a distinct entity until 1909; operating at various times a medical school, a four-year military college, a ...

, it served as a Union hospital during the Civil War. It became the Nashville Children's Museum in 1945. In 1974 the museum moved to a new facility at 800 Fort Negley Boulevard, became the Cumberland Science Museum and is now known as the

Adventure Science Center Adventure Science Center is a non-profit science museum for children located in Nashville, Tennessee. The museum features over 175 hands-on interactive exhibits with themes including biology, physics, visual perception, listening, mind, air and sp ...

. The building is once again called Lindsley Hall and is used by the City of Nashville for Metro Government offices.

Location

The building is located at 724 2nd Avenue South in Nashville, the county seat of

Davidson County, Tennessee Davidson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in the heart of Middle Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 715,884, making it the second most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Nashville ...

in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

History

The building, constructed with grey limestone, was completed in 1853. It was designed by Prussian-born architect

Adolphus Heiman Adolphus Heiman (April 17, 1809 – November 16, 1862) was a Prussian-born American architect and soldier; later becoming a Confederate officer during the American Civil War.Christine Kreyling (ed.), ''Classical Nashville: Athens of the South'', ...

in the

Gothic Revival architectural style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. It was built as the main hall for the University of Nashville while the university was closed from 1850 to 1855 due to a cholera epidemic. It was named Lindsley Hall in honor of Dr

John Berrien Lindsley John Berrien Lindsley (1822–1897) was an American Presbyterian minister and educator in Nashville, Tennessee. Born in Princeton, New Jersey and educated at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, he married an heiress to the Carnton ...

, who served as the Chancellor of the University of Nashville from 1855 to its demise in 1873. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, it was turned into a hospital for the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

in 1862. From 1867 to 1905, the building was home to the

Montgomery Bell Academy Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) is a preparatory day school for boys in grades 7 through 12 in Nashville, Tennessee. History MBA was established in 1867 in the aftermath of the American Civil War. It is the successor to two schools: the Western Mi ...

Peabody College Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development (also known as Vanderbilt Peabody College, Peabody College, or simply Peabody) is the education school of Vanderbilt University, a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. ...

, and the Agricultural and Industrial State Normal College (later renamed

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

, a historically black university). From 1914 to 1925, it was home to the

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Vanderbilt University School of Medicine is a graduate medical school of Vanderbilt University located in Nashville, Tennessee. Located in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center on the southeastern side of the Vanderbilt University campus, the S ...

. Later, it was used as an armory for the

Tennessee State Guard The Tennessee State Guard (TNSG) is the state defense force of the state of Tennessee. The TNSG is organized as an all-volunteer military reserve force whose members drill once per month unless called to active duty. The TNSG is a branch of the Te ...

and as a public health center. The building was the location of the Nashville Children's Museum from 1945 to 1974. More recently, it was renovated as an office building to

USGBC The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

Silver standard in 2011.

Architectural significance

It has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

since May 6, 1971.

Interior

Floor plans

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsley Hall American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places Collegiate Gothic architecture in the United States Government buildings in Tennessee Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Local government buildings in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Nashville, Tennessee School buildings completed in 1853 Tennessee in the American Civil War University of Nashville