Sparkman St. Bridge To Be Open July 1

By Wheldon Grimsley

From the Nashville Banner, May 3, 1971 

“Twenty-five minutes late…that’s unusual,” said Louisville & Nashville ticket clerk Jack Macon Sunday morning as the new Amtrak Southwind rolled to a stop in Birmingham, Ala. “Usually it’s one to two hours late. And I’ve seen times when passengers were still waiting here when I got off duty, two and a half hours after the train was due.”

The Southwind rolled into Nashville only moments off schedule, and would have stopped in Louisville exactly on time had it not been for minor tie-ups in the switch yards. Even then, the Miami-to-Louisville section of the Miami-Chicago train was just 10 minutes off schedule in Louisville.

That was the biggest difference noted Sunday as the northbound Southwind made its first Amtrak journey, having departed Miami Saturday. And that is a major reason why railroad personnel and passengers alike held high hopes for the new government-supported passenger train system, which went into effect Saturday.

“Good clean equipment, quality service and running on time are the keys to this thing,” said John R. Murphy, a former L&N employe who now is train service improvements supervisor, passenger traffic department, for the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad.

Murphy and representatives from other lines were aboard the Southwind to assure crewmen gave good service and to look for ways of improving existing service. They will compare notes and, in reports to the three lines involved on the north-south daily runs—L&N, SCL and Penn Central—as they will try to obtain a uniform high quality performance in all phases of the operation.

All were optimistic.

“We’ve got to make this work,” said J. L. Staska of Penn Central, “and everyone involved is dedicated to this. The unions are cooperating in improving service because they know jobs are involved. Management cooperates because finance is involved—and because they know if these Amtrak trains are delayed for no good reason that a fine can be assessed against the line responsible for that section of track.” …

Passengers aboard the speeding passenger train generally echoed the optimism of the trainmen.

“I love it,” said Nashville native Clara Hughes, now a Chicago resident. “This is the only way I enjoy traveling, and now I’ll visit in Tennessee more since they’ve eliminated the changeover in Louisville and have made this a straight run to Chicago. It’s great.”

Don McClure, a Chicago school teacher returning from a Florida vacation, added: “This is the only way to really travel in style, it would seem to me. I hope they make Amtrak succeed.”

“I hated to see the old trains go,” said an elderly Nashvillian who asked that his name not be used. “But this new system, if it works, may be the only salvation for us who enjoy going places by rail. I’m happy with what I’ve seen so far.”

“I’m a little doubtful about government operated things,” said Hillard Abernathy of Birmingham, “but I have a good feeling about Amtrak. Call it wishful thinking if you like, but, by George, I just believe this will go over OK. I really do.”

Apparently this feeling is shared by the government, railroads and railroad employes. They have invested the entire future of America’s passenger train service in Amtrak.

If it doesn’t work, the romance of rail travel will be only a memory.

(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Editor’s note: This is the 50th anniversary of Amtrak service arriving in Nashville, which lasted for eight years, until 1979 (see more below). In recent weeks there have been reports of Amtrak possibly returning to Nashville. For more of the above article, see our May 2016 issue.

Ralcon Wagner, author of the book Nashville’s Streetcars and Interurban Railways, notes:

“During the 1960s, the Louisville & Nashville Railroad had been the sole operator of passenger service, with streamliners sporting names such as the Dixie Flyer, Pan American, Humming Bird, Georgian and the Southwind. Due to years of falling ridership on the nation’s passenger trains, a government agency, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (more commonly known as Amtrak), was created in 1970 to take over and maintain a national passenger train network. On April 30, 1971, all passenger trains serving Nashville were discontinued except for the Chicago-to-Florida Southwind, leaving the city with one daily train in each direction. 

“Several months after the Amtrak takeover, the train’s name was officially changed to the Floridian. During the next several years, however, many felt like Amtrak management treated the train as a stepchild; during the train’s eight-year history, the Floridian’s route through Indiana was changed several times, the schedule revised on numerous occasions, and the 20-year old locomotives and coaches were prone to break-downs. 

“In an effort to attract more passengers in Nashville, a new passenger facility was opened in the former baggage facility behind Union Station in April 1976. During the mid-1970s, passengers boarding the Floridian were relegated to waiting for their trains in a trailer in the parking lot when Union Station was condemned due to health issues with mold and bird droppings.

“After three more years of chronically late trains and several derailments, the Floridian became a victim of drastic budget cuts in 1979. The national carrier discontinued several long distance passenger trains in early October 1979, which included Nashville’s Floridian. The train discontinuances left major cities such as Nashville, Columbus, Louisville and Wichita without rail passenger service. After 42 years, these southeastern metropolitan areas remain without Amtrak service.”

By Robert Churchwell

From the April 1, 1955, Nashville Banner:

“The position of racial prejudice in the South is on the decline” asserted a speaker Thursday at Fisk University.

Terming racial prejudice a “defensive reaction,” Dr. Herbert Blumer, sociologist at the University of California, in an extended discussion of the “Character of Race Prejudice,” listed several factors that have attacked the theory and practice of racial prejudice and are now weakening its position in this part of the country.

Blumer spoke at one of the series of seminars Fisk is staging to help dedicate its new social science education building today. Two other seminars Thursday and one this afternoon also dealt with the theme, “Race and Culture at Mid-Century.”

Named for the late Dr. Robert Ezra Park (1864-1944), a professor of sociology who came to Fisk after retiring from the University of Chicago, the new structure is a handsome three-story brick building on Phillips St. immediately behind Memorial Chapel. It houses the departments of social science, education and psychology, with special facilities for programs in child development and race relations. The building also includes the Charles S. Johnson Research Library for 20,000 volumes. The library is named for Fisk’s present president.

Actual dedication ceremonies are scheduled this evening from 4 to 6 o’clock. An address, “Race Relations and Social Planning,” will be delivered by Ernest W. Burgess, University of Chicago, Bishop Bertram Doyle, of the CME Church, a former student of Dr. Park, will give the invocation. Franklin C. McLean, Fisk board of trustees chairman, will preside.

Another speaker Thursday, Dr. E. Franklin Frazier of Howard University, said there are sound reasons “ideological, pragmatic and sociological,” for dividing peoples of the world into white and colored races.

Dr. Morris Ginsberg, visiting professor at Fisk from the London School of Economics, said his studies have found psychopathic symptoms identified with at least one form of racial prejudice—anti-Semitism.

Ginsberg said he doesn’t believe racial prejudice can be understood without understanding its historical conditions.

Two other seminar topics discussed Thursday were “Racial Frontiers: Here and How People Meet” and “Research and Social Action in Race Relations.” Speakers included Everett C. Hughes, University of Chicago; J. Masuoke, Fisk; Kali Prasad, Lucknow University and Fisk; Samuel A. Stouffer, Harvard University; John P. Dean, Cornell University; and William F. Ogburn, University of Chicago and Florida State University

(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Editor’s note: One significant area in which racial prejudice had not faded by 1955 was in housing, as evidenced by the classified ads shown above, which appeared in the same newspaper as the article. For more about racial discrimination in housing, particular as enforced by federals, state, and city laws, see The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein.

From the Aug. 9, 1967, Nashville Banner

By Larry Brinton

A spectacular fire today destroyed Loew’s Theater, a downtown Nashville landmark for more than three-quarters of a century. Damages were estimated at $500,000.

The fire simmered for about four hours, then exploded in a mass of flames, gutting the four-story auditorium.

The three-alarm blaze was sounded at 2:15 a.m. and two hours later the flaming roof of the theater’s 80-year-old auditorium caved in, spraying the immediate area with red-hot sparks and sending firemen and spectators scurrying to safety.

No injuries were reported.

The theater is located in two separate buildings, with the entrance and lobby in the old Vendome Building, fronting at 615 Church St., [and the auditorium] located in a second building directly behind [the building with the Church Street entrance].   

Metro firemen, using a wide assortment of equipment, including snorkel apparatus and hook-and-ladder units, climbed nearby buildings to shoot heavy streams of water on the auditorium roof and keep the flames from spreading.

The Church Street Branch of First American National Bank, also located in the Vendome building, suffered smoke damage, but firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to that section connected to the auditorium only by the theater’s lobby. 

Buford Cranch, manager of Loew’s, said he had been unable to make a detailed examination of the loss, but placed a preliminary estimate at about one-half million dollars.

Projection Equipment

Cranch said the projection equipment was valued at between $25,000 and $50,000 and that the 10 reels of film for “The Dirty Dozen”—the feature currently being shown—were valued at another $3,000.

Cause of the blaze, which apparently started in the second balcony in the 1,400-seat auditorium, had not been determined, according to Fire Chief William McIntyre.

Chris Wallace, who works at a Church Street restaurant, said he went to the last movie Tuesday night with a friend, Charles Polk.

“It was burning during the show about 10:15 p.m.,” Wallace asserted.

Wallace said both he and his friend smelled “something like burning rubber tires” as they sat in the rear of the main floor.

“It smelled real bad,” he declared.

About midnight, as the show ended and officials began to close for the night, Asst. Theater Manager Max Harden also detected the burning odor, according to Robert Hargrove, the cleanup man who went on duty at 11 p.m.

‘All Over Theater’

Hargrove said Harden “looked all over the theater but he couldn’t find anything.”

“I told him I couldn’t smell anything,” said Hargrove. Later, however, as Hargrove was vacuuming the ground floor, he was startled by an explosion from the first balcony.

“It sounded like a shotgun blast,” the janitor explained. He said he ran to the balcony.

“It was so hot I couldn’t stay up there,” he said. “There was a lot of flame in the back end of the balcony and it was spreading.”

Hargrove said he ran from the building, raced up Church Street to Seventh Avenue and pulled the fire alarm.

When the first firemen arrived district Chief L.J. Tidwell reported the fire appeared to be at the projection booth on the second floor balcony.

Roberts said the front section of the theater had a sprinkler system, but the auditorium was not equipped with sprinklers.

As firemen pumped thousands of gallons of water on the blaze, guests in the Savoy Hotel, 142 Seventh Ave. North, got a “bird’s-eye” view of the fire as it roared less than 100 feet from the rear of the hotel.

By 5:30 a.m. a company of firemen made their way through the water-soaked theater lobby into the rear of the burned-out auditorium.

In the smoke-filled lobby, a wall placard advertised as a coming attraction, the movie “In The Heat of The Night” starring Sidney Poitier.

Firemen Praised

“They (firemen) did a beautiful job,” declared an official of the bank branch office. “This whole block could have gone easily.”

Theater Manager Cranch told The Banner he had not conferred with Loew’s officials in New York.

Asked if the theater would be rebuilt on its present site, Cranch replied: “I don’t have the slightest idea. I assume so, but I have no official word whatsoever.”

The movie house previously had experienced several small blazes.

But none were as serious as today’s fire, said Cranch, who has been with the Loew’s chain 30 years, with most of it spent here.

The theater building was “a downtown landmark,” said veteran Nashville real estate broker Glenn Bainbridge.

“It had a decided place in the history of Nashville.” …

(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Editor’s note: This article appeared in the August 2012 issue of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper along with a companion article from 1967 titled “Lights Still Burn Bright In Memories Of Vendome.” Other stories in the issue include: “Elvis Presley Dies” (1977); “Opryland Wedding” (1972); and “Nashville Women” (1891).

From the June 22, 1988, Nashville Banner

By Kay Beasley

Before Nashville’s commercial firms expanded from downtown and throughout the suburbs, all retail, wholesale and professional services were concentrated in what is now the central business district.

Downtown Church Street saw its last magnificent residence, the home of John Felix Demoville on the northeast corner at Seventh Avenue, sold in 1902 for commercial use. By 1907 Castner-Knott's store had moved onto the site in its new building (second building from left, photo above).

The above view, photographed a few years before World War I, is eastward down Church Street from a point west of Seventh Avenue. Church Street appears to be one-way going west, with transportation modes ranging from horse-and-buggy to electric street car to early automobiles.

On the far left is C.W. Jennings Drugs in the Eve Building, built on the site of the Duncan Eve home and now the site of the refurbished Bennie Dillon Building.

Continuing down the north side past the “new” Castner-Knott building are B.H. Stief jewelry, W.C. McCarver pianos, shoe shops, Jensen, Herzer & Jeck jewelers, Toney’s Shoe Shine parlor and United Cigar Store at Sixth Avenue.

Beginning on the east (far right) are Hope Dry Cleaners, Zibart Bros. Cigars, and across Seventh another Toney’s Shoe Shine parlor, R.M. Mills’ bookstore, Joe Morse & Co. Clothing, Rich-Schwartz & Joseph clothing, the Vendome theater, Nashville Gas & Heat, White Trunk & Bag, Herbrick & Lawrence plumbers, Nashville Railway and Light, H.G. Hill’s grocery and Joy’s florist.

The steeple on the south side is that of the 1885 Watkins building, the upper stories for adult education, the ground floor leased to commercial enterprises. The ground floor of the newer Watkins Building is occupied by F.W. Woolworth Co.

Buildings like the Mills Block and Vendome Building were humming with activity in offices of doctors, dentists, opticians, engineers, music teachers, produce companies, barbers and, at one time, undertakers.

Church Street’s 600 block of 1913, when shoe shiner parlors and fruit stalls dotted the sidewalk and Broadway musicals at the Vendome were top-drawer, is barely recognizable today.

Almost all the buildings of 75 years ago have been razed or remodeled, and a serpentine tile avenue covers the old cobblestones and streetcar tracks.

Most of the block’s south side, starting with the well-known Candyland’s corner at 631, was recently razed and is the site of construction for a retail development featuring more than 75 stores, shops and restaurants, its opening date in 1989.

(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Editor’s note: Church Street Centre mall opened in 1989 but was not successful. In 2001, the Downtown Branch of the Nashville Public Library opened. The library is on the site of the Watkins Institute building, the steeple of which can be seen in the postcard images above. Hear a firsthand account of what old downtown Nashville was like in Nashville Retrospect Podcast, Episode 03.

From the Sept. 22, 1956, Nashville Banner

Eight persons, four of them children, were injured this morning when the last car of a miniature train at Fair Park was derailed.

Two adults were admitted to Vanderbilt Hospital for treatment. The others were treated and released with minor injuries.

The injured were listed as: 

Mrs. Marshall J. Stanfield, 38, Route One, Dover, right hand crushed, and Mrs. Beatrice Gillette, 220 Woodland St., injuries undetermined, both admitted as hospital patients.

James Stanfield, 4, son of Mrs. Stanfield; Bobby Gillette, 8, daughter of Mrs. Gillette; Vicki Lynn McCall, 5, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jim McCall, Allisona, Tenn.; Pamela Gail Carpenter, 6, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Carpenter III, 225 Vaughn’s Gap Road; Felix M. Bennett, 44, of 218 Treutlan St.; and Forrest Marsh, 43, of 839 Meridian St.

The last-named six suffered abrasions, cuts and bruises, hospital attendants said.

Wesley Lever, “engineer” of the train, known as the “City of Nashville,” escaped injury.

Wallace Massey, manager of Fair Park, a permanent amusement center on the State Fairgrounds, said the car was derailed and overturned as the three-car train was about one-fourth the way around the track.

“What happened I don’t know,” he declared. “I examined the tracks and the wheels after it happened and was unable to find anything wrong there.”

Lever said he also was unable to account for the accident. He said the train, pulled by a four-cylinder gasoline engine, was going at its normal slow speed. Neither of the other two cars nor the tiny locomotive left the track.

Massey said he was not at the scene when the accident occurred but that he arrived in a short time and ambulances from Ellis & Kidd and Buena Vista funeral home were summoned immediately. Massey said he called his personal physician to treat the injured.

Five-year-old Vicki Lynn McCall told a reporter:

“We were going around a curve and the car turned over. It scared me a lot but I didn’t holler and I got out by myself.”

Massey said the park, which opened five years ago, has “a wonderful record” for safety. He said it has the lowest accident insurance rate of any of its kind in the country. The premium rate, he said, is 60 cents per $1,000 compared with as high as $4.50 paid by other park operators.

Massey said the train would resume operation during the day without the last car, which was damaged.

The park operator said the “City of Nashville” had only one previous accident, three or four years ago when the engine got off the track on a curve. No one was injured then, he said.

(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Editor’s note: This article appeared in the September 2011 issue of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper, along with other stories from the city’s past, including: "Nixons Win Hearts Of Nashvillians" (1952); “Free and Slave Population” (1861); and “Desperate Fight In Maxwell Lobby" (1910).

From the Oct. 9, 1968, Nashville Banner

By Anne Franklin

Whether or not an old flintlock pistol found at the historic Hermitage belonged to Andrew Jackson, its discovery creates a fascinating curiosity.

Last week one of the workmen making repairs on The Hermitage retrieved a rare handgun which he found three feet behind and attic cornice.

The ridge of the roof runs east and west and is perpendicular to the ornamental facade that extends across the top of the front above the pillars.

The “high roof” is rectangular in shape and thrusts up through the apex line. It was behind the cornice of the “high roof” section, where the tin covering was being replaced, that the gun was found.

The weapon, identified as a “rare Kentucky category, flintlock pistol-pocket type, circa 1812,” is of “inestimable value,” said James E. Arnold, executive director of the Ladies Hermitage Association.

Increases Value

This relic’s discovery is interesting when one considers that “something this valuable could be found accidentally,” said Arnold.

To find a weapon in the mansion of Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the U.S., and to uncover a firearm which he may have owned and fired, makes the “discovery more significant,” said Arnold.

Additionally, the discovery of The Hermitage treasure contains much historic interest because of the gun’s age and association with the estate of one of Tennessee’s most beloved statesmen.

“Jackson’s strong love of weapons, makes it more fascinating,” said Arnold. “It is also a true representative of the pistols used during and after the Revolutionary War.”

Arnold said the find is “exciting for us because of The Hermitage’s shortage of Jackson’s weapons.” He explained that the collection includes only a few swords which belonged to “Old Hickory,” the hero of the Battle of New Orleans.

Another remarkable aspect of the gun was that it contained a piece of flint which still sparked.

They contacted immediately a local gun authority, Col. Daniel F.C. Reeves (ret.) of Madison, who documented the weapon’s identification. Reeves is a member of the board of directors of the National Rifle Association.

Gun Authorities, curators and historians have furnished several theories pertaining to the gun’s ownership and how it got to its hiding place.

Of course, one theory which came to mind right away was that the pistol could well have belonged to Andrew Jackson, who could have placed it in the attic for safe-keeping.

However, the General was not the type to hide such a weapon for any reason.

Another possible explanation, said Arnold, is that a workman who was helping with the 1834-35 restoration of the fire-damaged mansion, may have placed the gun on the attic ledge when it became too heavy in his belt.

But regardless of its documentation, the handgun’s discovery has created quite a bit of justifiable curiosity and speculation for history buffs.

Arnold said the weapon would probably bring “any amount of money we asked for it on the market.” But it will be on display at the national shrine with the other memorabilia of Andrew Jackson’s era.

“In Jackson’s day, a man’s guns were prized possessions,” said Arnold. “Evidently Jackson’s weapons were dispersed along with the of his estate because we have not located many of them.”

The LHA executive director said the gun fits perfectly the description of the “rare Kentucky category, flintlock pistol-pocket type,” in Chapel’s “The Gun Collector’s Handbook of Values.”

This publication was the source Reeves used for the hand gun’s identification.

The 155-year-old gun is in good condition with its ramrod and ramrod thimbles intact, said Arnold. It is a full-stocked pistol made of burl maple and engraved in silver and brass.

Arnold explained that gunsmiths of the 1800s did not usually ascribe their signature on products. If the British captured the weapons, they would trace the firearms supplier.

He added that a gunsmith usually would not make more than five or six pistols of the same type found since they were made for special orders and not produced in quantity.

‘Rare Treasure’

The scarcity of the flintlock pistols makes this a “rare treasure,” said Arnold. “Its sale price is listed at $1,500 in the gun collector’s book.

The workman who found the handgun was C.L. Wright of Hermitage, Arnold stated.

Under way at the Hermitage is a “rediscovery” of the house the way it was when Andrew Jackson lived there, said Arnold.

Craftsmen are now at work on the home, restoring and repairing materials that have been victims of the weather.

“No major changes are being made in the appearance of the building,” said Arnold.

“How that gun got up there where it was found is a mystery,” Arnold said. “We don’t have the answer, but we hope someone else has.”

Most people will agree, perhaps, that this weapon is a fascinating curiosity because the gunner and his “art” played a significant role in America’s history.

The Ladies Hermitage Association maintains The Hermitage, The Hermitage Church and Tulip Grove. Mrs. Horatio B. Buntin is the association’s regent.

If relics could talk, this 155-year-old flintlock pistol would probably have quite a tale to unfold.

And in the meantime as work continues at The Hermitage, craftsmen, no doubt, will stay on a constant lookout for more historic treasures yet to be uncovered.

(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Editor’s note: Today the pistol is in the permanent collection of The Hermitage but is not currently on display.

From the Oct. 21, 1937, Nashville Banner

By Dorothy Dix

DEAR MISS DIX: I am a woman in my late 20s, and I believe I express the sentiments of the majority of my sex when I say that the reason that so many girls of my age are so anxious to marry and get the ‘searching look’ in their eyes is not from the fear of being an old maid, but of missing what every woman realizes is living—the joy of loving and being loved; and the happiness of having children. I appreciate that marriage may not always be a song, but, after all, it’s life, and one can’t blame a woman whose youth is fleeting for becoming heart sick because she feels that she is missing the essence of life itself. TWENTY-EIGHT.

ANSWER: Certainly not. Of course, every woman barring the few who are born celibates, wants to marry and have her man, her children, her own home. It’s a primal instinct, and in a well-ordered world there should be a good husband for every girl and babes with naturally curly hair, dressed in white muslin with blue ribbons, and a vine-wreathed cottage.

Unfortunately, however, that glad day has not arrived, and as things are in this cock-eyed old world there does not seem to be a sufficient supply of husbands to go around. At any rate, men seem less and less inclined to marry, whether because of the high cost of living or because bachelor apartments with valet service have taken away man’s necessity for a wife, or whether because men who spend their days working with women are fed up with feminine society and do not wish for another helping, only men themselves can say.

At any rate, it is a condition and not a theory that confronts the modern woman in marriage. Thousands of them are bound to be old maids, because men either can’t or won’t marry, and I think it is a pity that they can’t learn to accept the matter philosophically and stop idealizing marriage and thinking that if they miss it they have lost out in life.

Of course, no one will deny that the woman who gets a good, kind, generous, faithful husband, who loves her and who is her heart’s desire; who has children who are paragons, who has a beautiful home and plenty of money to run it on, is a darling of the gods who has been given the best things in the world. But there is just about one woman in a hundred thousand that draws this lucky number.

The great majority of women who marry find that marriage means hard work, worry, and pinching economies; walking the baby at night, quarreling children and women wondering where the rent money is coming from; putting up with whims and temper of crochety husbands who take them for granted and never pay them a compliment, or even take them out to the movies.

However, that is not the point. The point is that so many women lose all the pleasure they might get out of their free independent lives in which they have their own latchkeys and their own money and limited hours of work because they haven’t husbands and because they delude themselves in the belief that however other marriages turn out, theirs would be a dream of bliss. And that’s a pity.

(Newspapers .com)

Editor’s note: Halloween traditions used to include attempts by girls to learn if they would become old maids. Read about one called the “dumb supper.”

From the Nov. 1, 1936, Nashville Banner

By M.B. Morton

One of the most interesting and attractive of the old time houses near Nashville is on the Charlotte Road about ten miles from the Courthouse in Nashville. It was built and occupied by Elijah Robertson, son of Charles Robertson, the founder of Nashville. It was built early in the Nineteenth Century and of course dates back to pioneer times. It is now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. J.P. Jordan, and it is in a good state of preservation.

Originally a tavern on the stage line running East and West from Nashville through Charlotte, it is now a farm house on a prosperous farm of 426 acres owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Jordan. Any visitor at the present time will be impressed by the thrift and hospitality of the present owners, and elderly couple who know how to care for their live stock and cultivate their land. They have cattle, sheep and hogs, and a fine orchard. Their country hams are famous.

Going to this old tavern from Nashville one passes the site of the residence of Gen. James Robertson in West Nashville. A few miles out the concrete road turns to the left to join the Harding Road, but if you are going to see the old tavern, you will here leave the concrete road and keep on out the black surfaced Charlotte Road. You will cross a beautiful valley, after which the road runs in a narrow gorge between ranges of hills, until you reach the Jordan house on the right hand side. It may easily be identified by the solid stone wall along the road built by slaves many years ago. The house is situated on a considerable elevation about 100 yards from the road. It stands staunch and strong, showing no indications of senility or decay, but it is almost hidden from view by the great trees and flowering shrubs in front of and around it.

Elijah Robertson first built about three miles farther out the road on the ridge dividing the waters that flow on the one side into Harpeth River, and on the other into the Cumberland.

Facing the house from the road the barn and stable are on the right. Part of the stable building on the East side was the original Elijah Robertson stable. The lower floor is built of stone. Back of the barn on the hillside is the old graveyard, surrounded by a dilapidated stone fence. Here are buried Elijah Robertson and the members of his immediate family. It was shaded by a number of cedar trees planted by the original settler. Only one of these, gaunt and old, remains a lone sentinel.

Across the Charlotte Road is where the old stage stand and blacksmith shop were located. The latter was presided over by Harry Robertson, a Negro slave. No vestige of these buildings remains. The location is known to this day as “Stage Hollow.”

The road going into Nashville had a stage stand at Charlotte, the one at Robertson’s Tavern being the next. Here horses were changed for Nashville. The next morning the same horses brought the stage from Nashville back to the Robertson station.

Descendant’s Description Of Old Tavern

Charles Stevens of Nashville, now 19 years old, on his graduations from the high school, submitted an article in a contest sponsored by James Robertson Chapter, D.A.R., for the best essay on historical points on the Charlotte Road. He won the prize. He was then 17 years old and is the son of Theopilus Abraham Stevens. Notwithstanding his youth he wrote an excellent historical sketch. He is a descendant of Elijah Robertson. Following is his description of this old tavern:

“As we approach this antique old house nestled against the hillside partly hidden from sight by the trees which form an archway for the walk, leading to the front entrance, we are at once struck with the rustic beauty of the scene which comes to our vision.

“As we reach the front entrance of this old house we find that the rough hewn poplar logs have now been covered over with boards painted white. The open hallway that ran from the front entrance to the rear of the house is now enclosed with French doors.

“As we enter, the two spacious rooms on each side of the hallway measuring twenty feet square we find each has an old fashioned log fireplace. The original white ash floors of wide boards and fastened down with the nails made in Elijah’s blacksmith shop are still ready for many more years of service. 

“Ascending the stairway from the hall which has since been added to the house, brings us to the hall upstairs with a large rom on each side similar to the ones below.

“In the days of Elijah this old mansion would have presented an entirely different scene. The old grease lantern hung at the front entrance as a welcome beacon to the weary traveler who stopped at this old tavern, on his stage coach journey to or from Nashville. When the younger children or travelers came in at night they climbed the wooden ladders to the upstairs rooms, so as not to disturb the older people sleeping below.”

Elijah Buried In Old Graveyard

Continuing his story, young Stevens writes of the old burial grounds as follows:

“A few steps behind the house brings us to the old family graveyard, where Elijah, his wife, three sons, and a daughter are buried. It is now moldering with age. The graves are overgrown with grass. The gray tombstones are all of the same type. The inscriptions are as follows:

Eiljah Robertson

Born; May 13, 1784

Died: August 16, 1858

Nancy Robertson

Wife of Elijah Robertson

Born: June 7, 1784

Died: October 14, 1869

James Robertson

Born: August 15, 1821

Died: August 28, 1840

William Robertson

Born: March 1, 1817

Died: June 6, 1851

John Robertson

Born: April 30, 1819

Died: October 28, 1851

Susannah Robertson

Born: February 2, 1826

Died: June 27, 1853”

Road Named To Appease Charlotte

Charles Stevens, in his sketch gives the following as to how the Charlotte Road got its name:

“Before Gen. James Robertson married Miss Charlotte Reeves, he had a sweetheart who lived in Missouri, whose name was Lavenia, and when James Robertson’s first daughter was born he named her Lavenia, in honor of his sweetheart in Missouri.

“This of course did not meet with the approval of his wife. So in order to pacify her, in the future he used her name ‘Charlotte‘ when naming anything.

“This is the reason the pike through the settlement was named Charlotte Pike, and this name is still the name of the present concrete highway, which runs through the community.

“It is also interesting to note that the dress which Lavenia Robertson, the first daughter of James Robertson, wore in the ball given at the Hermitage in honor of Lafayette, at the time he visited this section, is on display at the War Memorial Building in Nashville.”

The old tavern homestead is now known as “Orchard Grove,” the name given it by its present mistress, Mrs. Jordan.

(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

From the Nov. 21, 1978, Nashville Banner

By Bill Hance

A dynamite explosion ripped through a 500-foot tunnel at the J. Percy Priest Dam powerhouse, tearing four iron security doors from their hinges, authorities said today.

The blast, which law enforcement officials said did not cause structural damage to the dam, was discovered when U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees reported for duty at 9 a.m.

Metro police and FBI agents said the dynamite blast was strong enough to tear off the doors leading to a tunnel which runs the length of the dam. The dam is located off Interstate 40 near Stewart’s Ferry Pike.

Authorities said they determined the explosion was caused by dynamite when they entered the tunnel and detected a tell-tale pungent odor.

Corps of Engineers officials said they were planning to lower the level of the Percy Priest Lake to check the possibility that another dynamite charge was concealed in “sump pumps” below the dam.

There were no injuries reported, and authorities said they could not immediately determine when the explosion occurred.

“Whatever it was, it was strong,” declared Metro Patrol Sgt. Walter Johnson. “I would have hated to have been standing here when it went off. “We’d be down there in the river. These people were not amateurs.”

Corps of Engineers officials said they were notified of the explosion when mechanic R. E. Deal reported for work and found an iron bar door and its metal covering lying on the concrete next to the power house.

The plant superintendent, Robert R. Copeland Jr., said the power generating facility is unguarded during the early morning hours but added that the Corps has not experienced vandalism problems there since it was constructed in 1969.

Metro bomb squad officer Larry Pennington said the blast spread debris about 200 feet from its origin.

The dam produces a constant stream of 28,000 kilowatt hours of electricity at maximum strength. Compared to the constant demand of 1 million kilowatt hours on the Nashville Electric Service system, the facility supplies only a small portion of the city’s power.

“I want to emphasize one thing,” Copeland said. “The blast caused absolutely no leaks.”

(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Editor’s note: In his book Hidden History of Nashville, George Zepp tells the rest of the story: “As for those dam bombers, their plan didn’t quite work. The November 1978 incident still won a place in local lore as one of the craziest criminal schemes ever attempted here. The ill-conceived scenario was to flood downstream Nashville stores, which could then be looted using scuba gear. The bombers’ relatively small amount of dynamite and ineffective placement of it caused only about $10,000 worth of minor damage to the 130-foot-high dam structure. No water was lost. Even if the dam had been breached, experts said that flooding would not have reached the areas the thieves had hoped. The Nashville-Goodlettsville-Mount Juliet trio—all in their twenties—who planned the grand heist received federal prison sentences as their only rewards.”

This article appeared in the November 2011 issue of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper along with other stories from the city’s past, including: “Rock, Roll Bumps Start Sock Hop” (1959); “Foot-Ball” (1885); and “The Merchant Prince of Nashville; Samuel D. Morgan” by George Zepp.

From the Jan. 6, 1983, Nashville Banner

Eight cars in a 158-car Seaboard Systems Railroad freight train derailed on the overpass at 10th Avenue North and Jo Johnston Avenue today, showering wooden ties and other debris onto the street below but causing no injuries, authorities said.

Last June 3, two people were injured when six tank cars and two box cars derailed at the same overpass. The victims sustained slight injuries when falling debris struck their automobile as it passed under the bridge.

In today’s incident, two cars containing grain and another boxcar were teetering on the edge of the bridge when Metro police arrived on the scene at 7:20 a.m. One of the cars slid partially down an embankment and smashed the rear end of an automobile in a Noel & Co. Inc. parking lot. Five other cars derailed on either side of the bridge.

“We were lucky it was early in the morning,” Metro Police Officer J.R. Page said. “We could have had some serious injuries.”

Noel employee Claude Scott said his automobile was passing under the Jo Johnston Avenue overpass when he heard the train begin to derail.

“If my car had quit, I would have been hit. It was a close call,” he said.

Ira Bell, division supervisor for Seaboard Systems Railroad, said officials did not know what caused today’s derailment, but, he said, the track was not at fault.

“The track is in excellent condition,” Bell said. “It is designed to take speeds up to 50 mph but trains move through here between 10 and 15 mph.”

Bell said the train was traveling at approximately 8 mph when the derailment occurred.

Col. Phil Hooper, regional vice president of Seaboard Systems Railroad, had said earlier that the June 3 derailment was probably caused by brakes being applied to a rocking car on the overpass. 

He said the rocking car may have been caused by an uneven weight distribution in the 98-car train.

Page said today that traffic could be rerouted around the wreck scene until the derailed cars could be removed.

(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Editor’s note: This article appeared in the January 2016 issue of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper along with other stories from the city’s past, including: “Belmont Classes To Resume After Blaze” (1973); “‘Nameless Crime’ By White Assailant” (1907); and “Small Pox Apprehension” (1846). 

From the Feb. 15, 1949, Nashville Tennessean

By Phil Sullivan

The peoples of France and Tennessee joined hands yesterday.

Gov. Gordon Browning accepted the French people’s thanks for Tennesseans’ generosity, climaxing a colorful parade and ceremony in which the Tennessee car of the French “Gratitude Train” was delivered to the state.

Paced by stalwart cadets, ROTC units, and peppy bands of midstate military academies and high schools—Columbia Military academy, Castle Heights, Father Ryan, Issac Litton, West End high, St. Cecilia and Pearl high—the spectacular parade was observed by an estimated 10,000 persons.

Five thousand saw presentation ceremonies on Memorial square, according to an estimate by Judge Henry Todd, master of ceremonies and Nashville “Gratitude Train” committee chairman.

Presents Box Car

M. Andre Picard, director general of French railroads who fathered the idea of sending to America valuable French art work in response to the “Friendship Train” sent from this country to France in 1947, presented the little “40 and 8” box car with its “Thank You” cargo.

To begin the ceremony, the parade moved away from the front of Union railroad station at 3:15 p.m., led by a police detail consisting of city, county and state traffic men. Next followed a marine color guard, cars of the sheriff, the governor, other dignitaries and the air force recruiting service bands of CMA, the ROTC, the Nashville 40 and 8 voiture’s locomotive, the Tennessee Motor Transport association, bands of CHMA and Father Ryan, a Vanderbilt University float, NROTC and bands of Issac Litton, St. Cecilia, West End, and Pearl high.

Sidewalks Lined

Along the parade route up Broadway to Eighth ave., to Church st., to Capitol blvd. and Memorial square, the sidewalks were lined, and spectators overflowed into the streets, blocking passage except on the parade’s line of march.

High buildings, signs, windows and every vantage point were utilized by spectators anxious to get a squint at the boxcar, which has gained world wide fame through two World Wars.

The 40 and 8 car has been particularly glamorized by American troops who were transported in it to the front both times U. S. expeditionary forces were sent to France. It got its name from its capacity of 40 men and eight horses.

The parade moved smoothly along without a hitch. Crowds were orderly and traffic tie ups were at a minimum.

Lt. Hubert Kemp of the Nashville police force was parade marshal.

Valuable Keepsakes

After presentation of dignitaries on Memorial square by Judge Todd and the invocation by the Rev. Pickens Johnson, Picard spoke. His words were translated by Dr. C. F. Zeek, professor of romance languages at Vanderbilt university.

He thanked the Nashville Exchange club, which sponsored collections for the “Friendship Train” here. He also thanked Nashville and Tennessee.

Picard said 49 railroad cars which served in two World wars to transport American and French troops to the front had been filled with valuable French keepsakes and sent to America “to make more binding the bonds of friendship between our two nations.”

[A Nashville Banner article elaborated on the contents of the boxcar: “Among the items Nashville received were: a wedding dress, a box containing several pictures, another with a scarf, books, a bonnet, tobacco jar, ceramic baskets, horses’s bells, plates, a stamp collection, a statuette, lamp shades, several pieces of furniture and a chest.”]

Quoting from a poem, [Picard] said, “Every man has two countries, his own and France.” He then said, “I would like for the Frenchman to have two countries, his own and America.”

He then addressed Governor Browning and turned over the “Thank you” car which had been parked, surrounded by the bands and other elements of the parade, on Deaderick st., directly in front of the reviewing stand.

In acceptance, Governor Browning said he was not acting as governor of the state but as a representative of the people.

‘Spirit of People’

He said, “Those of us who have seen France in her tribulation and in her joy know the spirit of her people.”

The ceremony, he continued, “is an exchange of greetings and courtesies and kindnesses, the roots of which are deep in our people. We will never forget that in our infancy France was our standby friend.”

“She with us would throw across the path of those who would destroy us a rampart of a living nation.”

Governor Browning said America would stand with France to assure peace in the world. The governor, a veteran of both world wars, spent much of his service in the European country.

After accepting the car and its contents, the governor turned over the key to the little gray boxcar to Russell Brothers, chairman of the state “Gratitude Train” committee. Brothers said the train eventually would be taken to Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Bristol, giving all residents an opportunity to see it.

Played Marseillaise

During the presentation ceremonies, which came between Picard’s and Browning’s addresses, Miss Thaniel Armistead, accompanied by Paul Williams, commander of Nashville Post 5 of the American Legion, brought the gaily be-ribboned key of the boxcar from the car to the reviewing stand. The Father Ryan band then played the Marseillaise, the French national anthem, while all stood at attention.

Miss. Armistead, 18-year-old Vanderbilt university student, is a daughter of E. C. Armistead, chief de gare of the local 40 and 8 voiture, and Mrs. Armistead.

During the solemn ceremony, Miss Jeanine Autret, daughter of Jean Autret, native of France and professor of French in Vanderbilt, held the red, white and blue striped French flag.

Among those introduced by Judge Todd were Col. C. A. Ragsdale, commanding officer of Columbia Military academy, and Col. H. L. Armstrong, commander of Castle Heights Military academy.

Picard said the ceremonies were a “magnificent manifestation of Franco-American friendship,” and that he was “extremely” touched by them.

Sincere Friendship

“I do not hesitate to tell you,” he said, “that the populations of every American state have given concrete proof of their sincere friendship.”

He said French children are preparing letters and signatures which will be sent to the American children sometime in March.

Picard is being accompanied on the “Gratitude Train” tour  by an interpreter, Frank Douglas, representative of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen; John Donovan, counsel and representative of Drew Pearson, Washington columnist who originated the “Friendship Train,” and William Tate, representative of the American Association of Railroads.

Following the ceremonies the French boxcar was to be unloaded of some of its cargo, which will be used in a “mobile museum,” which, with the boxcar itself, will make a tour of Davidson county schools tomorrow and Thursday, according to Judge Todd.

The car will be on display today on Memorial square and after school hours through Thursday, he said.

(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Editor’s note: This article appeared in the February 2011 issue of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper along with other stories from teh city’ß past, including: “TV Transmission Tower Collapses; 4 Killed” (1957); “The Union is Worth Preserving!” (1861); and “How To Put On Weight, If Desired" (1957).

From the Feb. 17, 1969, Nashville Banner

By Robert Churchwell

“We sing that first because we are holding the program as Americans and this meaning for our children is very important.”

“That,” referred to by W.E. Ross, principal of Wharton School, was a standing rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” by students assembled in the auditorium for a Negro History Week Program.

Ross said this has been the emphasis all this week as the entire 1,246 students at Wharton learned of the “rich contributions” made by their forefathers, always as Americans.

“Then,” he said, “we sing ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’”—a song often labeled the Negro national anthem.

The students were treated to a kind of panoramic-type program with fellow-students as cast members, thoroughly directed by faculty members. Drawings and paintings by students told of contributions of such Afro-Americans as Carl Stokes, first Negro mayor of Cleveland, Ohio; and Richard Hatcher, first Negro mayor of Gary, Ind.; Matthew Hansen, Negro Arctic explorer with Adm. Richard Byrd; and Dr. Martin Luther King, leader in the civil rights movement.

Another segment on music appeared to hold the students in animated awe as it traced Negro contributions through spirituals, folk music, blues, and jazz.

Ross said the students have been “very receptive” to all phases of the week’s program. Its theme was “Black Pride Opens the Door to Opportunity.”

(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Editor’s note: This article appeared in the February 2012 issue of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper along with other stories from the city’s past, including: “Fort Donelson Falls-City In Panic” (1862); “Smogbound Downtown” (1958); and “Earthquakes Continue” (1812).

From the Sept. 27, 1912, Nashville Globe

Tuesday night of this week a student of Fisk University got into a row with a white man on a street car. It is said a student who was not familiar with the street car rules in this city got on the car and took a seat by a white passenger. It is said the white man gave him a shove and told him he must not sit by him. It is further stated by those who witnessed the episode that another student remarked to the one that had been shoved that he would sit by the white man and he did so, but that no sooner had he taken the seat than the white man struck him in the face, breaking his glasses and cutting his face considerably. The student thereupon proceeded to give the white ruffian a good drubbing. It is said he, the student, knocked the white man across the bench and thumped him good with his fist and then kicked him around to his heart’s content.

No passengers, white or black, took any part in the row. The two were arrested. On Wednesday afternoon in the city court it was the special pleasure of Judge Killen to fine the student fifty dollars and to dismiss the white man. No one is surprised at the decision of the court, but on the other hand, all Negroes of Nashville would have been surprised if any other verdict had been rendered.

A reporter for the Tennessean and American in reporting the case says: “the Negroes on Jefferson street are inclined to overrun the car.” This is true, but every Negro who rides on the Jefferson street car pays his fare. But if the railroad company will insist that the Negroes who furnish more than seventy-five per cent of the patronage of the Jefferson street line must give the whole car to the white passengers, it is believed the Negroes who patronize the Jefferson street car line will quietly discontinue that patronage and make some other provision to get to town.

The Negroes in the vicinity through which the Jefferson street car passes own a large majority of the property. They are taxpayers and regular patrons of the car. They have a perfect right to overrun the car, which they do, and this time that right has not been questioned.

It is said that a white man who was on this car remarked, after the unpleasant affair referred to above had taken place, that to his mind the white people who live in a Negro community like that in Northwest Nashville should make up their minds to behave themselves or else move out. This gentleman spoke the whole truth. The Negroes on the Jefferson street line are very considerate toward the few white passengers. They are not as insistent as the white people are who ride on the Buena Vista or St. Cecelia lines, where few colored people ride. On those lines it is often the case that every seat is taken by white passengers, and if a Negro gets on he must stand up or be crowded in a corner; but on the Jefferson street line there is less friction than there is on any line in the city. True the Negroes predominate, but there is a spirit of fairness prevalent at all times.

The row between the student and the white passenger was a very unfortunate affair. We regret that it happened. It is better sometimes to yield a point for the sake of harmony, but since it has happened and the young man gave a splendid account of himself, the matter will have to stand for what it is worth. Both the student and the white man could have avoided the row; first, if the white passenger had taken his seat where he belonged; second, if the student had given the conductor the trouble to move the passenger rather than take the place of conductor himself.

(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Editor’s note: This article appeared in the September 2012 issue of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper along with other stories from the city’s past, including: “Parents Plan To Sue Faron Young” (1972); “Fall Fashion Finery” (1956); and “Aged Patriots” (1812).

From the Feb. 13, 1979, Nashville Banner

By Bill Hance

Big bright lights aren’t always confined to the big city. Look at nearby Portland.

They have big bright lights there. But these lights are in the sky and they rotate. One minute they’re red; next, they’re lime green; and then they turn navy blue.

Folks in Portland, the strawberry capital, are convinced they’ve been visited by unidentified flying objects—not once, but three times since the first of the year.

“I saw it. I tell you I saw it,” said Nancy Mitchell, a dispatcher of the Portland Police Department. “I just about dropped the binoculars when I got a good look at it,” she said.

Ironically, two recent sightings in Nashville also were reported by Metro police who were on duty during the night and early morning hours.

They reported seeing “round objects that looked like the ends of sparklers” and “a flying object three football fields in length” that made a “low, humming noise.”

Already this year, there have been UFO sightings reported in New Zealand, Israel and Italy.

Mrs. Mitchell, who has worked with the Portland Police Department for two years, was not alone in seeing the strange object several weeks ago.

Two city policemen and a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer also saw it.

It was about 4:45 a.m. on Jan. 22, Mrs. Mitchell said. “Sgt. Larry Link and Patrolman Frank Montgomery came into the station and told me they saw something strange in the sky, something that was turning different colors and rotating.

 “I went out and, sure enough, there it was, hovering over the Fountainhead community. It stayed for about 15 minutes and then zipped away.

“I know I’m not crazy because everybody else saw it too, even some policemen at the Westmoreland and Hendersonville Police departments.”

She said she had seen the same object twice before.

“The other times, it stayed over by the Kentucky-Tennessee border, close to Interstate 65.

“I know something’s out there,” she said. “I’m sure it’s friendly. If it wasn’t, it already would have hurt us.”

Mrs. Mitchell said that atop the spinning sphere was a “bright white light.”

“There’s been some strange things going on around here,” she said. “The other night, when the sighting had just occurred, I dispatched a patrol car down to Junior’s Market because the burglar alarm was going off.

“By the time they got there, it had stopped.

“As the round ball went from one side of the sky to the other, it would affect the alarm, apparently, and set it off.

“But the strange thing is that when the bell is set off, it usually has to be reset from inside the store before it will work again. But this wasn’t the case. The bell went off four or five times during the night. I sent a patrol car down there each time.

“Another time, Patrolman Steve White’s patrol car went dead on U.S. 31W near the state line. He called in on his radio, telling me he had lost all power. I kidded him by saying, ‘Look up in the sky, Steve, and see whether there are any flying saucers flying around.’

“He told me he was afraid to. A few minutes later, his car lights came back on and the engine started. Steve came back in the office and said he had decided to ‘take it easy’ until his next shift.

“I don’t know what’s out there and I hope this doesn’t make us look bad. But there’s something up there. Believe me.”

Arnold M. Heiser doesn’t believe Mrs. Mitchell saw what she believes she saw.

“This time of year is perfect to see the planet Jupiter by night, Venus in the morning,” said Heiser, a Vanderbilt University astronomer.

“I’m not saying that’s what these people in Portland saw,” he said. “But if you’re asking me what’s in the sky that can be easily misinterpreted, that’s it.

“Other than that, I can give no explanation.”

(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Editor’s note: This article appeared in the February 2018 issue of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper along with other stories from the city’s past, including: “Harveys downtown now part of history” (1984); “Cockfighting No Isolated Incident” (1973); and “Old Hickory’s Statue Goes Begging” (1875).