Nashville, Tennessee, USA
1895 - Nashville

Nashville, a handsome city, capital of the state of Tennessee, and of Davidson co., is situated on the left bank of the Cumberland River, 200 miles from its mouth, 233 miles E.N.E. of Memphis, 206 miles S.W. of Lexington, Ky., and 684 miles from Washington. Lat. 36° 9' N.; lon. 86°49'W.; elevation above the sea, 460 feet. It is the most wealthy and populous city of Tennessee, except Memphis, and is distinguished for its enterprising spirit, literary taste, and polished society. Many of the private residences are built on a scale of palatial magnitude and £ and the public buildings exhibit a corresponding character. The capitol, which stands on a commanding eminence, 175 feet above the river, is a magnificent structure. The material is a fine limestone, which was quarried on the spot, and nearly resembles marble. The dimensions are 240 feet by 135 feet, and the estimated cost $1,500,000. It is built, it is stated, entirely of stone and iron, without any wood about it, except the planking on which the copper roofing is fastened; the floor and inner walls are of dressed stone. The foundation of the capitol was laid in 1845. A lunatic asylum, which will accommodate 400 patients, is located in the vicinity. The state penitentiary at this place is 310 feet by 50, containing 200 cells. This prison, with its machinery, equipments, and labor, is leased by the state to private parties by contract. Nashville is noted as the educational centre of the South western States. Its system of public schools is one of the best in the country. It has 5 school-buildings for whites, valued at $131,500, and 3 school-buildings for colored people. Here are 2 medical colleges, viz., the Nashville Medical College, and the medical department of Vanderbilt University, both occupying spacious buildings. With the latter is connected the city hospital. This city is the seat of the Nashville University, founded in 1806; of the Vanderbilt University (Methodist Episcopal South), founded in 1875; of the Fisk University, founded in 1867, for the training of colored teachers; and of the Central Tennessee College, founded in 1866. Nashville has also 2 female seminaries, 30 churches for whites, 14 churches for colored people, 2 or£ asylums, 4 national banks, 2 savings-banks, a public library, a state library in the capitol, a handsome masonic temple, 2 theatres, an opera-house, and a building for the custom-house and post-office. Three daily newspapers, about 20 weekly religious and literary journals, and a number of monthly periodicals are published here. This city has an extensive wholesale trade, and manufactures which include carriages, iron products, furniture, lumber, flour, saddlery, &c. About 400 manufacturing establishments were reported in the census returns of 1890, with a capital of $9,166,626 and a product valued at $13,673,730. It is connected with the city of Edgefield, which is on the opposite bank of the river, by a suspension-bridge and a railroad drawbridge. The river is navigated during high water by large steamboats from its mouth to this point, and several splendid packets are owned here. Among the important railroads that meet here are the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis, the Louisville & Great Southern, the St. Louis & Southeastern, the Nashville & Decatur, and the Tennessee & Pacific. Pop, in 1860, 16,948; in 1870, including Edgefield, 30,260; in 1880, 43,350; in 1890, 76,168. Gen. George H. Thomas gained here a decisive victory over the Confederate general Hood, December 15 and 16, 1864.

Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott

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