THE BOWEN HOUSE
705 Caldwell Drive, Goodlettsville, TN 37072
Believed to be the oldest brick building standing in Middle Tennessee, the Bowen House is a rare survivor of the earliest settlement of the area. Built around 1788 by Captain William Bowen, a wealthy former soldier from Virginia, it was made of brick at a time when most of his neighbors lived in log houses. Reportedly, Bowen had to hire masons in Lexington, Kentucky to come south to build his new house. The brick was handmade and fired on the site, and finer items like the window glass was brought in from Kentucky on the back of pack horses.
Bowen and his family lived tumultuous lives. They had encounters with Native Americans in both war and in peace. They served in the Revolution, survived a number of adventures on the early frontier, and rubbed shoulders with such famous names as Daniel Boone, Andrew Jackson, and Patrick Henry before settling in Sumner County. Here Bowen lived the rest of his life as a prominent member of the community, and the house survives as a reminder of those days.
After Bowen’s death in 1804, the house eventually passed to his son, who sold it to Dr. George Keeling in 1835. Keeling modified it, adding a brick wing housing a kitchen and dining room to the rear. Aside from this and a few other small changes, the house is still essentially as it was built in the 18th century, complete with much of the original floors and woodwork.
The 20th century saw the place fall into decay, and by 1975 it was abandoned and being used as a hay barn. In that year, the city of Goodlettsville began the formidable task of restoring it to mark the Bicentennial. After several years of work to stabilize and restore the structure, it opened to the public in 1984. Today, tours are given each weekday with guides from the Visitor’s Center at Moss-Wright Park, telling the fascinating story of one of the first residents of what is now known as Goodlettsville.
MANSKER’S STATION
705 Caldwell Drive, Goodlettsville, TN 37072
German immigrant Kasper Mansker founded the first permanent settlement in the area, and built two forts for protection. His first only lasted two years before it had to be abandoned in the spring of 1781 following a number of deaths during the war with the Cherokee and Chickasaw. A year later he built a second fort, which became a prominent landmark on the road from Kentucky into Nashville. During the dozen or so years it stood, it played a significant role in several major events. The surveyors who laid out the boundaries of Tennessee and Kentucky stayed there for a time, as did a number of other famous frontier characters. And in 1790, some of the drama surrounding Andrew Jackson’s wife Rachel and her first husband Lewis Robards unfolded within its walls.
The original fort was probably dismantled after peace came in 1795, and by the time Mansker died in 1821, no trace of it was left. In 1986, it was decided to build a replica of this famous frontier landmark for use as a living history museum. Using what facts survived, and knowledge of traditional building techniques, the fort was built over the course of the next three years, almost entirely using hand tools and hard labor. The result was one of the most accurate replicas of a frontier “station” in America.
Visitors today can take tours of Mansker’s Station at Moss-Wright Park in Goodlettsville. The small cabins speak to the harsh living conditions of the earliest settlers, and stories of hardship, humor, tragedy, and heroism of both the early Europeans and the Native Americans who resisted them recall a time when the area was still a forest, and history was just starting to be made.
OLD STONE BRIDGE
From the 1830s onward, the Louisville and Nashville turnpike was the major highway connecting those two cities, and saw stagecoaches, farmers’ wagons, and horsemen in a steady stream, setting out for the three-day journey.
Sometime around 1840, an itinerant stone mason was contracted to build bridges across several local creeks to allow this traffic better passage. He built elegant arched structures, using cut stone “dry fitted” into place, with no mortar to hold them together. The weight of the stone and the skill of the mason were enough to ensure that at least three of these bridges still survive after more than 180 years.
Over the course of its existence, it has seen history literally pass over it. Presidents Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk both crossed over in their carriages, on their way to and from political meetings. Sam Houston once passed this spot on his way to settle an “affair of honor” on the dueling grounds in Franklin, Kentucky. Carriages full of adventurers often crossed the bridge on their way to the famous resort at Tyree Springs, or further to the north where they explored the vast reaches of Mammoth Cave. During the Civil War, skirmishes took place around the bridge between Union and Confederate cavalry. And there are darker rumors of travelers who may have only crossed it once and never returned. Just north, in Robertson County (so the legend goes) was an innkeeper whose guests checked in, but never checked out – robbed and murdered in the night as they slept. It was only a legend. Or was it?
Since around 1930, the L&N turnpike (now called US 31W) has bypassed the “Old Stone Bridge” as it is called today. And it’s a good thing to be sure. The shaking and jarring of modern cars and trucks are far more severe than those of horses and carriages. Because the world has passed it by, the bridge has been preserved as a reminder of a time when travel was slower and less certain. Today, visitors who stop by get to see a rare link to Tennessee’s early “stagecoach and tavern days,” and learn more about the many colorful legends linked to it.
The Old Stone Bridge spanning Mansker’s Creek may be visited by going North on North Main Street and East on Old Stone Bridge Road. The road to the bridge is on the immediate left. •