Skipwith Hall

Skipwith Hall
Location Columbia, Tennessee, U.S.
Coordinates 35°38′28″N 87°08′30″W / 35.6410°N 87.1416°W / 35.6410; -87.1416Coordinates: 35°38′28″N 87°08′30″W / 35.6410°N 87.1416°W / 35.6410; -87.1416
Area 13 acres (5.3 ha)
Built 1815-1816
NRHP reference # 77001283[1]
Added to NRHP November 23, 1978[2]

Skipwith Hall, also known as Oakwood Farm, is a historic mansion in Maury County, Tennessee, USA.

History

The land was granted by George Washington to Nathanael Greene in 1807.[3] However, Greene let his brother-in-law, Captain William Littlefield, settle the land.[3] When Littlefield's son, Newport, Rhode Island, native Edward B. Littlefield, married Greene's daughter, Cornelia, recently widow of Peyton Skipwith (c.1775–1808), the new couple decided to build a mansion for their plantation.[3][4]

The mansion was built with timber in 1815-1816.[3] It was the residence of Edward Littlefield and his wife Cornelia.[3] It was home to the first piano in Maury County.[4] When he won Lucius J. Polk's seat in the Tennessee Senate, Littlefield moved to Nashville and left the mansion to his stepsons, George G. Skipwith and Peyton H. Skipwith.[3] They formally inherited it in 1836.[3] By 1849, George passed it on to the Planters Bank through a deed of trust.[3] Shortly after, the bank sold it to Benjamin Harlan.[3]

Harlan renamed it Oakwood Farm and turned it into a stock farm, importing stock from Spain and selling it in the South.[3] Meanwhile, Harlan hired architect Nathan Vaught to redesign the mansion.[3] Vaught added "six white pillars and a grand veranda."[4] According to local historian Reid Smith, Harlan added his "own special trademark of hospitality" with "A little Negro slave boy [who], stationed in the shade of a mighty oak along the pike, stood ever ready with a drink of spring water for each and every passerby."[4]

The property was later inherited by Harlan's descendants, who were still the owners of the mansion in the 1970s.[3]

Architectural significance

It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since November 23, 1978.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "Skipwith Hall". National Park Service. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form: Skipwith Hall". National Park Service. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Reid (1983). Majestic Middle Tennessee. Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Company. p. 31.
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