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Dedication of Historical Marker for Stone Walls • October 2, 2008
Around 75 neighbors and history buffs, above, attended the dedication of the Metropolitan Historical Commission marker honoring the area's dry-stack stone fences. Interim City Manager M.C. Sparks, right, plays the bowed psaltery.
Property owner Margaret Boyd, above, welcomes guests. Boyd was instrumental in getting the marker, right, installed in her front yard.
Property owner Patrick Boyd admires the newly installed sign with George Cate Jr. of the Metropolitan Historical Commission.
Above, Oak Hill mayor Tommy Alsup II, Nashville mayor Karl Dean, historian Fletch Coke, and Jim Kay of the Battle of Nashville Preservation Society prepare to speak at the dedication. At right, Gary Burke, Jim Kay, Ross Massey, and Sidney McAlister represented the Battle of Nashville Preservation Society at the dedication of the marker commerating dry-stack stone walls.
Left, Bob Irby, Carolyn Weldon, and Jim Kay study a map showing historic property lines marked by dry-stack stone walls. Above, celebrating the dedication of the marker are Oak Hill resident Martha Davis, historian Fletch Coke, Margaret Boyd, Forest Hills commissioner Bill Coke, and Edie Moore, a neighbor of the Boyds.
Stone walls honored with historic marker
Residents of Oak Hill gathered on a beautiful Thursday afternoon, October 2, at the home of Patrick and Margaret Boyd on Granny White Pike to celebrate the unveiling of a historical marker in honor of the neighborhood's dry-stacked stone walls.
Marker text
DRY-STACK STONE WALLS
Dry-stack stone walls, a Scots-Irish building tradition adapted by slaves in the early 19th century, were common throughout Middle Tennessee. During the 1864 Battle of Nashville, Brigadier General Henry Jackson was captured at this wall on the Middle Franklin turnpike after the Confederate line collapsed at Shy's Hill.
Nashville mayor Karl Dean and Oak Hill mayor Tommy Alsup praised the efforts of the Metropolitan Historical Commission and state Senator Douglas Henry in preserving and protecting dry-stack walls in Middle Tennessee.
Jim Kay, president of the Battle of Nashville Preservation Society, read a passage from the diary of a Civil War soldier, written from the same spot where the historic marker now stands.
Historian Fletch Coke intrigued the audience of about a hundred people with stories of how the stone fences often were constructed to mark property lines. She shared maps showing the stone wall along Granny White Pike as a boundary for the Lealand plantation, presented by Travellers Rest owner John Overton to his daughter to celebrate her marriage.
Oak Hill interim City manager M.C. Sparks serenaded guests with performances on a bowed psaltry, an instrument related to lyres and zithers, played something like a handheld violin.
Metro Councilmen Carter Todd of the 34th district and Parker Toler of the 21st district, and State Senator Douglas Henry were present for the dedication.
Other guests included Eily Carell Allen, Sherre Phillips, Sue Smith, Judy Tygard, Bev Leiser, Travellers Rest president-elect Fred Crown, Carolyn Weldon, Carolyn Lawrence, Sandra and Dick Frank, Bob Irby, Kathy and Bob Elam, Travellers Rest senior interpreter David Ragan in a soldier's uniform, Tara Mielnik and Scarlett Miles from the Metro Historical Commission, and Commissioners George Cate Jr., Ann Roos, Lula Brooks, and Joan Armour.