Black and white image of Cumberland Furnace, an old wodden building next to a railroad crossing.
Features

Cumberland Furnace

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Many Nashvllians know that ironmaster Montgomery Bell (1769-1855) had an iron forge at the Narrows of the Harpeth in Davidson County 30 miles west of Nashville. Many have launched a canoe there. Far fewer know much about Cumberland Furnace, which Bell purchased for $16,000 in 1804 from James Robertson when he moved to Tennessee from Lexington, Ky. The wilderness tract included beech, elm, walnut, chestnut, oak and pine trees needed to make the charcoal to fuel the forge. Bell systematically purchased additional land, much of it in nearby Montgomery County, where he received permission from the county court to erect a ferry across the Cumberland River 10 miles east of Cumberland Furnace.

Features

The transition from livery stables to garages in downtown Nashville

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In 1917, Dr. Boots Brown had a livery station down the hill from the public square in downtown Nashville on First Avenue North. Each work day, Horton Early would ride to work in his carriage and horse from his home, Ponotoc, in East Nashville. He customarily crossed the river on the Woodland Street Bridge and proceeded to Dr. Brown’s livery station on First Ave. North near Broadway, where he left his horse, The Emperor, and buggy before walking up the hill to his harness and horse goods store Early-Cain at 715 Second Avenue North. He continued doing this well into the 1920s when modern paving hurt The Emperor’s hooves and forced Early to use an automobile.