Much more to ‘Music City’ than tunes

By Elaine Warner

To many, Nashville is known as “Music City,” but it has an earlier soubriquet which highlights another of Nashville’s notable features. Ten years before Tennessee became our 16th state (1796), Nashville was building a reputation for erudition which earned it the nickname “The Athens of the South.” While most visitors head to the city for its extensive music scene, others come to experience the history and culture.

In 1788, Andrew Jackson, a young lawyer who had been appointed Prosecuting Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, arrived in the small, but growing community. After statehood, he served in both the U.S. House and Senate. He was a hero during the War of 1812 and in 1828 was elected seventh President of the United States.

For history buffs, a visit to Jackson’s home, The Hermitage, is a must. Begun in 1819, the home underwent subsequent expansion and remodeling, a disastrous fire, reconstruction, and ultimately opened as a museum in 1889. Renovations in the 1980s and ‘90s restored the interior to Jackson’s post-presidential period.

. Since presidential libraries were not established until 1939, the museum here is the closest you’ll get to a complete history of the man and his career. Admission to the extensive grounds and mansion require tickets – best arranged online in advance as numbers are limited.

Belle Meade Historic Site and Winery offers a look at other aspects of Tennessee history – bourbon and bloodlines. This beautiful property was established in 1807 by John Harding – with a cabin and 250 acres. Harding farmed and eventually began breeding horses – the start of what would become one of America’s most famous stud farms.

His son, William Giles Harding, was the second owner. He built a magnificent, Greek Revival mansion in 1853. In 1872, he purchased a 20-year-old, British-bred Thoroughbred, Bonnie Scotland, who became a premier sire of American racehorses. All but two of the past Triple Crown winners have traced their lineage back to this stallion.

Three different tours are offered here. The Mansion Tour provides family and mansion history. The Jubilee Tour concentrates of the enslaved workers who were brought or born here – from the Head Hostler and Horse Trainer, Robert Green, and the Head of Domestic Staff Susanna Carter, famous for her award-winning fruit cordials and wine, to gardeners, dairy workers and others. The Southern Food Traditions Tour explores iconic Southern dishes, history and tastes. Just don’t expect a meal!

At some point, another branch of the family became involved in distilling whiskey. In a replica 1820 ice house, guests can learn about the bourbon connection while sipping on mini-cocktails.

Another interesting stop is Belmont Mansion on the campus of Belmont University. Not only is this a beautiful, historic home – one of the few 1850’s era homes still standing – but its owner, Adelicia Acklen, had a fascinating history. She was a woman of great wealth before she married Col. Acklen, and actually insisted a pre-nuptial agreement that allowed her control of her fortune. In 1853, the couple built Belmont.

Col. Acklen died in 1862. With Nashville occupied by Union troops. Adelicia managed to smuggle cotton crops from her Louisiana plantations past war blockades and increase her fortune. PostCivil-War, with the ending of slavery, she began selling off many of her properties, including, in 1887, Belmont. The story of this complicated woman, slave-owner, business woman, society matron, traveler, art collector, and philanthropist, is as interesting as the elegant home she created.

I love Belmont and Belle Meade, but my favorite has to be a much more contemporary estate, Cheekwood. The mansion, completed in 1932, is the epitome of an American Country Estate. The property includes 55 acres with 13 distinct gardens. Among the gardens are areas dedicated to seasonal color, perennials, roses, and herbs. Specialty gardens like the Japanese Garden, Water Garden, and Children’s Garden add more interest.

Trees are not neglected on the property either –with over 1,200 deciduous trees, 576 evergreens, 16 deciduous conifers and 238 dogwoods. A mileand-a-half walking trail through a woodland forest features a number of outdoor contemporary sculptures.

The mansion is definitely worth touring. The first floor of the 30,000 square-foot mansion is dedicated to the family home with furnished rooms like the spacious and elegant drawing room and the wood-paneled library. A niche displays antique Royal Worcester porcelain. The second floor features art both from the permanent collection and traveling exhibitions.

And now for something completely different –an homage to the original Athens. Nashville was so obsessed with its nickname that in 1897, in celebration of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, it constructed a full-scale replica of the Parthenon. Originally designed to be temporary, the structure underwent renovations which turned it into a permanent icon of the city.

Extensive research went into the construction of the Parthenon, replicating, as near as possible, the original structure. The centerpiece of the Greek temple was a majestic sculpture of Athena by Pheidias, one of Greece’s greatest sculptors. The Athena in Nashville was created by Nashville artist, Alan LeQuire.

At 41-feet, 10 inches, Nashville’s Athena is the largest indoor statue in the Western Hemisphere. For perspective -- the tiny figure of Nike in Athena’s right hand is actually six-feet, four-inches tall. Garbed in gold leaf, this is one glittering goddess.

Galleries on the upper floor display castings of pieces of the original Parthenon pediments taken to England in the early 1800s by the Seventh Earl of Elgin. Other exhibits are located in the lower level of the structure. A permanent display, the Cowen Collection, features American works created between 1765 and 1923 and includes paintings by Winslow Homer, William Merritt Chase, Benjamin West and Albert Bierstadt.

The ancient Greeks would be surprised and the early settlers would be jealous. Modern travelers have a plethora of pleasures to experience. Nashville is so much more than country music. More than a week-end getaway, this is a major destination requiring much more time to properly savor the city.