Burlington (Nashville, Tennessee)

Burlington, also known as the Elliston-Farrell House, was a historic mansion on a plantation in mid-town Nashville, Tennessee, US. It stood on modern-day Elliston Place.

Burlington
Alternative namesElliston-Farrell House
General information
Architectural styleRenaissance architecture
Town or cityNashville, Tennessee
CountryUnited States
Completed1816; 1859
Demolished1932
ClientJoseph Thorpe Elliston; William R. Elliston
Design and construction
ArchitectWilliam Strickland

History

The plantation was established by Joseph T. Elliston, a silversmith who served as the fourth mayor of Nashville from 1814 to 1817.[1] In 1811, Elliston purchased 208 acres for $11,435.75 in mid-town, from "what is now 20th Avenue to a line covering part of Centennial Park, and from a line well within the Vanderbilt campus today to Charlotte Avenue."[1] He subsequently purchased 350 acres "along what is now Murphey Road, including the Acklen Park [West End Park] area."[1] It ran across West End Avenue, which had not yet been built.[2]

Elliston built a small house in 1816, and he named it Burlington "after the Elliston homestead in Kentucky."[3] The house stood on modern-day Elliston Place.[4] It was designed by William Strickland in the Renaissance architectural style.[5]

His son William R. Elliston, who served as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1845 to 1847, inherited the plantation in 1856. With his wife Elizabeth Boddie, he built a bigger house on his father's old house in 1859.[5] The Ellistons were slaveholders.[6]

The plantation was inherited by their daughter, Lizinka. With her husband, Edward Buford, a Confederate veteran, she built a new house in 1887.[7] By 1889, they sold most of the land to the West End Land Company for development.[2][3] Part of the land was also donated to build the campus of Vanderbilt University.[6]

The house was dismantled in 1932.[5] However, the materials were used by the Shepherds, who were descendants of the Ellistons, to build a new mansion called Burlington in Green Hills, designed by architect Bryant Fleming.[4]

In 2012, Vanderbilt University named Elliston Hall for Elizabeth Boddie Elliston.[6] In a 2017 article, USA Today questioned their decision to honor a slaveholder on their campus.[6]

Further reading
  • Elliston Farrell, Josephine (1958). Burlington: A Memory. OCLC 10338885.

References
  1. Davis, Louise (August 14, 1983). "Early Silversmiths Left Marks on City. Names of Elliston, Calhoun Figure Big in Nashville History". The Tennessean. pp. 93–94. Retrieved April 14, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Staid Elliston Place May Lose Identity". The Tennessean. March 29, 1958. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved April 5, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Thompson, E. D. (March 2, 2016). "The Elliston Family still serves Our Area". The News. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  4. Cason, Albert (June 25, 1981). "Mansion Purchased, Opening Way to Luxury Homes". The Tennessean. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved April 4, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Whitsitt Edwards, Amelia (1999). Nashville Interiors, 1866 to 1922. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. pp. 27–32. ISBN 9780738502205. OCLC 44274945.
  6. Epstein Ojalvo, Holly (February 13, 2017). "Beyond Yale: These other university buildings have ties to slavery and white supremacy". USA Today. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  7. "Edward Buford, Wholesale Firm President, Dies. End Comes At Home On Elliston Place; 86 Years Old". The Tennessean. June 12, 1928. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved April 18, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.

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