Belle Meade Plantation, Tennessee

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Belle Meade Plantation is a well preserved plantation in the city of Belle Meade immediately south of Nashville, Tennessee.

Harding Cabin

The cabin was built about 1790 and purchased by John Harding in 1807.

Belle Meade Mansion

Harding's farm prospered and soon he found a lucrative specialty in boarding and then breeding racehorses. In 1820 he built a substantial brick mansion which was expanded to almost twice its original size in 1853.

Distant view of the mansion
View south over the lawn.

Carriage House

The Carriage House and Stables were built in 1892 and house a carriage collection.

 

Other Buildings

The smokehouse, from about 1826.
The dairy (1884)
The mausoleum, built in 1839.

Below: slave cabin from about 1830.

Above: the gardener's house from the 1920's Below: views along the garden paths.

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Created 19 July 2007, Last Update 03 June 2020