Burlington (Nashville, Tennessee)
Building in Tennessee, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Burlington, also known as the Elliston-Farrell House, was a historic mansion on a plantation in mid-town Nashville, Tennessee, US. It stood on modern-day Elliston Place.
| Burlington | |
|---|---|
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 Interactive map of the Burlington area | |
Alternative names | Elliston-Farrell House |
General information | |
Architectural style | Renaissance architecture |
| Location | Nashville, Tennessee, United States |
Completed | 1816; 1859 |
| Demolished | 1932 |
| Client | Joseph Thorpe Elliston; William R. Elliston |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | William Strickland |
History
The plantation was established by Joseph T. Elliston, a silversmith who served as the fourth mayor of Nashville from 1814 to 1817.[1] In 1811, Elliston purchased 208 acres for $11,435.75 (~$251,306 in 2024) in mid-town, from "what is now 20th Avenue to a line covering part of Centennial Park, and from a line well within the Vanderbilt campus today to Charlotte Avenue."[1] He subsequently purchased 350 acres "along what is now Murphy Road, including the Acklen Park [West End Park] area."[1] It ran across West End Avenue, which had not yet been built.[2]
Elliston built a small house in 1816 and named it Burlington "after the Elliston homestead in Kentucky."[3] The house stood on modern-day Elliston Place.[4] It was designed by William Strickland in the Renaissance architectural style.[5]
His son William R. Elliston, who served as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1845 to 1847, inherited the plantation in 1856. He built a bigger house on his father's old house in 1859 with his wife Elizabeth Boddie.[5] The Ellistons were enslavers.[6]
Their daughter, Lizinka, inherited the plantation. With her husband, Edward Buford, a Confederate veteran, she built a new house in 1887.[7] By 1889 they had sold most of the land to the West End Land Company for development.[2][3] Part of the land was also donated to build the campus of Vanderbilt University.[6]
The house was dismantled in 1932.[5] However, the materials were used by the Shepherds, who were descendants of the Ellistons, to build a new mansion called Burlington in Green Hills, designed by architect Bryant Fleming.[4]
In 2012, Vanderbilt University named Elliston Hall for Elizabeth Boddie Elliston.[6] In a 2017 article, USA Today questioned their decision to honor an enslaver on their campus.[6]
