Belmont Mansion

You are now at Belmont Mansion. If you’re ready to get out of the car and stretch your legs, this is a great stop. Take our Belmont-Hillsboro-Vanderbilt walking tour, which begins at the Belmont Mansion. You’ll find many restaurants, pubs, and shops along the way. You can also take a guided tour of the mansion, which has been meticulously restored to reflect the life of the Acklen family in the 1850s to 1860s. The mansion is open to the public seven days a week. Just ring the doorbell!

This impressive Italianate-style structure was constructed between 1849 and 1853 by Adelicia and Joseph Acklen. Built on a hill overlooking Nashville’s downtown, Adelicia called it Belle Monte or “beautiful mountain” in Italian. Eventually, it was shortened to “Belmont.” This 20,000 square-foot mansion was part of a 177-acre estate.

The life of Adelicia Acklen is a complicated story of a brilliant but cunning woman. Her first husband, Isaac Franklin, was the primary partner in the largest domestic slave trading company in the United States. He also owned several plantations in Louisiana and thousands of acres of land in Texas. It was rare for a woman to have so much money and power, but upon Franklin’s death, Adelicia gained control of all of her deceased husband’s property, worth hundreds of millions in today’s dollars. She remarried Joseph Acklen, and they built Belmont as their summer home. Joseph managed her wealth and expanded her holdings in Louisiana.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Adelicia stayed at Belmont while Joseph traveled south to protect the Louisiana plantations. Joseph died of malaria in 1863 leaving Adelica widowed again. During the two weeks prior to the Battle of Nashville, the mansion served as headquarters for the IV Corps of the Federal Army with General Thomas J. Wood and his staff occupying the house. The U.S. Signal Corps used the bell tower (originally a water tower) you see on the opposite end of the historic quad for signaling throughout the siege.

In 1867, Adelicia married Dr. William Cheatham and Belmont became the family's primary home. Adelicia began selling her properties after she moved to Washington D.C. in 1885. After her death in 1887, the family sold the mansion to a development company which in turn sold it to Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the founders of Belmont College for Young Women. Learn more about the role of higher education in Nashville on our Athens of the South driving tour.

There have been many efforts to uncover evidence and documentation related to the enslaved persons who were forced to work and live on the estate during Adelicia’s lifetime. Nearly 30 names have been recovered and are memorialized on campus near the location of the living quarters of those enslaved. Now we head just a mile and half down the road to visit one of the city’s most important Civil War sites—Fort Negley.

Exit the parking lot back onto Acklen Avenue then RIGHT onto Eighteenth Avenue. Take another RIGHT onto Magnolia Boulevard then RIGHT again onto Wedgewood. Stay on Wedgewood for almost one mile, then turn LEFT onto Eighth Avenue South. In half a mile, turn RIGHT onto Chestnut Street then LEFT onto Fort Negley Boulevard. You can park by the Visitor Center or along the loop. Feel free to explore the fort and take our walking tour while you are here and stop by the visitor center for more information.