University of Nashville

At the time of the Civil War, several magnificent structures towered over Nashville. One was the State Capitol, and another one was the building you are looking at now—the Literary Department of the University of Nashville now called Lindsley Hall. The original Lindsley Hall was the main academic building for the University of Nashville. Built in 1854, this Gothic-Revival structure was designed by architect Adolphus Heiman and constructed of gray limestone. After the surrender of Nashville, most of the University of Nashville buildings served as hospital buildings for Federal soldiers. This building held approximately 300 beds for the sick and wounded.

Lindsley Hall has a long history of ties to education and the government. While originally built for the uses of the University of Nashville, the building was soon bought by the Western Military Institute, whose students later joined the Confederate military. After the Civil War, Lindsley Hall was once again used for academic purposes, by the University of Nashville and Peabody College. Peabody College later moved and is now the College of Education at Vanderbilt University.

Many Nashvillians will also recognize the name Montgomery Bell Academy, which was a college preparatory school for the University of Nashville. MBA, as it’s called today, continues to operate as an all-boys school in West Nashville. From 1945 to 1974, Lindsley Hall was the home of the Nashville Children’s Museum. Today, the building is part of an office complex for Nashville’s Metropolitan Government. Before you head to your next stop, look down the hill. Here you’ll see the James Geddes Engine Company and Litterer Laboratory buildings, both of which are a stop on our New South Nashville tour that explores the surrounding Rutledge Hill neighborhood. 

From Middleton Avenue, turn RIGHT onto Second Avenue South/ Pres. Ronald Reagan Way. Turn LEFT onto Korean Veterans Boulevard and follow the roundabout to Eighth Avenue South. Near Cannery Row you’ll see a historical marker for Nashville Plow Works, a plow manufacturing business that made swords for the Confederate Army until 1862. Take a RIGHT onto South Street, then turn LEFT onto Villa Place. Along the way, you’ll pass through Music Row and Edgehill. Nashville Sites has tours for both of these neighborhoods, so check them out! Continue straight for one mile. Then turn RIGHT onto Wedgewood Avenue then LEFT onto Seventeen Ave. South. At the next light, turn LEFT onto Eighteenth Ave. South then immediately onto Acklen Ave. You can park in the visitors lot by the Belmont Mansion, which is our next stop.