Architecture Of Middle Tennessee

First published in 1974, Architecture of Middle Tennessee quickly became a record of some of the region's most important and most endangered buildings. Based primarily upon photographs, measured drawings, and historical and architectural information assembled by the Historic American Buildings Survey of the National Park Service in 1970 and 1971, the book was conceived of as a record of buildings preservationists assumed would soon be lost. Remarkably, though, nearly half a century later, most of the buildings featured in the book are still standing. Vanderbilt staffers discovered a treasure trove of photos and diagrams from the HABS survey that did not make the original edition in the Press archives. This new, expanded edition contains all of the original text and images from the first volume, plus many of the forgotten archived materials collected by HABS in the 1970s. In her new introduction to this reissue, Aja Bain discusses why these buildings were saved and wonders about what lessons preservationists can learn now about how to preserve a wider swath of our shared history.

Since the turn of the eighteenth century, social movements and technological advances have strongly impacted cosmopolitan identity in America. Nashville, in particular, has experienced one transformation after another as change continues to propel history forward. Settlement during the 1700s, war and Reconstruction during the 1800s, and increased immigration, New Deal programs, and the invention of the automobile during the 1900s--these and many other shifts have made Nashville a hub for transportation, trade, and multicultural relations. Much has changed since the settlements of the late eighteenth century, but modern Nashville is still celebrated for its diversity, commerce, and transportation. The passing of time is etched in the city's physical identity, juxtaposing the old with the new to demonstrate Nashville's rich history alongside its transformation into modernity. In Nashville Architecture: A Guide to the City, Carroll Van West examines over 250 properties in Nashville--including well-known buildings such as the Ryman Auditorium, the Hermitage Hotel, and Jubilee Hall at Fisk, as well as many other lesser known properties that outline the city's architectural metamorphosis over the course of the past 200 years. From schools and churches to banks and post offices, from apartment and office buildings to plantations and cemeteries, West surveys a wide variety of architectural sites that are found across Nashville and the greater Davidson County area. Illustrating his examination with over 150 maps and photographs, West provides a comprehensive architectural guide unlike any before it. An invaluable resource for scholars and travelers alike, this book illustrates Nashville's transformation into the cosmopolitan city that it is today, reminding us that we are surrounded by stories of history and change. It unveils a legacy much deeper than architectural style; it reveals a legacy of evolution, reminding us that architecture examines much more than the concrete properties visible to the eye.

"The happy events, the human asides, historic happenings, and family legends . . . make its pages delightful to read. Smith writes warmly and with an easy appreciative wit." -The Tennesseean Central Tennessee is a fascinating and historic area. Home to Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk, it was a major battleground during the Civil War. Majestic Middle Tennessee looks at ninety-five glorious antebellum homes in the central Tennessee region. Featured here are the sumptuous Rattle and Snap, the crown prince of them all; Mulberry Hill, where a Yankee stranger was mysteriously shot to death; and Foxview, home to children and cousins by the dozens. Hundreds of photographs and fascinating text detail the exciting and tragic history of each home.

Incorporating more than 3,000 illustrations, Kornwolf's work conveys the full range of the colonial encounter with the continent's geography, from the high forms of architecture through formal landscape design and town planning. From these pages emerge the fine arts of environmental design, an understanding of the political and economic events that helped to determine settlement in North America, an appreciation of the various architectural and landscape forms that the settlers created, and an awareness of the diversity of the continent's geography and its peoples. Considering the humblest buildings along with the mansions of the wealthy and powerful, public buildings, forts, and churches, Kornwolf captures the true dynamism and diversity of colonial communities - their rivalries and frictions, their outlooks and attitudes - as they extended their hold on the land.