When you drive south on I-65 from downtown Nashville toward Brentwood and Franklin, the first exit you pass is to Wedgewood Avenue. Did you ever wonder how it got that name?
The answer goes back to October 1891 when the owners of Cumberland Park acquired land on the west side of the Nolensville Turnpike that included a mile-long harness racing track. The owners, L. T. Baxter. Campbell Brown, Dr. A. W. Harris, Van Lee Kirkman, May Overton, A. H. Robinson and John Thompson, named the road connecting the new race course with the Franklin Turnpike “Wedgewood,” in honor of the championship trotter that earned the nickname “The Iron Horse” for running as many as six heats in a single event.
His short racing career lasted from 1879 through 1881. In 1880, he won every race in his class in the Grand Circuit. Wedgewood was purchased by the owners of the Hermitage Stud for $25,000 in 1886. The Hermitage Stud stood a couple of miles further out the Franklin Pike on its west side on Overton land. Its owners included Van Kirkman, May Overton and John Thompson.