The Nicholas Gotten House is located on 2969 Court Street in

Bartlett, Tennessee Bartlett is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 57,786 at the 2020 U.S. Census. History Bartlett, originally called "Union Depot", first served as the last major Tennessean depot along the westward stagecoach rout ...

, United States. It houses the Bartlett Museum, a local history museum operated by the Bartlett Historical Society. The white frame structure was built by Nicholas Gotten in 1871. It has a

saltbox A saltbox house is a gable-roofed residential structure that is typically two stories in the front and one in the rear. It is a traditional New England style of home, originally timber framed, which takes its name from its resemblance to a woode ...

-style side profile, with an asymmetrical roof which slopes lower on the back. __TOC__

History

Nicholas Gotten immigrated from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

at the age of 22 in 1854. He was a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

and served in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

under Gen.

Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was a prominent Confederate Army general during the American Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869. Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealt ...

. In the years following the war, Gotton made a living as a

miller A miller is a person who operates a Gristmill, mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Mill (grinding), Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surname ...

and ginner. He and his wife Julia Coleman raised three children in the house. Until the late 1970s, the Gotten House was owned by the City of Bartlett and used as the Bartlett Police Station. In the early 1980s, the house was leased by the City of Bartlett to the Bartlett Historic Society in a 50-year contract for $1 per year, to save the house from planned demolition and to refurbish the property. The structure became the seat of the Bartlett Historic Society, and since 1990 it has housed the Bartlett Museum. Exhibits on display at the museum are of relevance to local history: the collection includes photographs, written documents on the history of Bartlett, artifacts, and period furniture. The museum is open to the public every first and third Sunday of the month from 2-4 pm. Admission to the museum is free. On March 20, 2002, the house was 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 ...

. After a $100,000 renovation in 2007, which included authentic new windows, doors and fixtures, the Gotten house was declared a Bartlett Historic Landmark by the Bartlett Historic Preservation Commission in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotten, Nicholas, House Bartlett, Tennessee Historic house museums in Tennessee History museums in Tennessee Houses in Shelby County, Tennessee Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Museums in Shelby County, Tennessee Saltbox architecture in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Shelby County, Tennessee

History

See also

References