City: Nashville, TN

Category: Tours & Attractions

Description: Bowen Plantation House and Mansker’s Station are at this site. The 2-story, Federal-style house, built in 1787, is the oldest brick home in Middle Tennessee. It was built by Revolutionary War veteran and Indian fighter William Bowen, who brought his family to the area in 1785. He received the land as partial compensation for his military service and later expanded the plantation from 640 acres to more than 4,000. In 1807 William Bowen Campbell was born here. He fought in the Seminole War and the Mexican War and served as Tennessee’s 15th governor from 1851 to 1853 and a member of Congress in 1855. The restored house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. About 200 yards from the house is Mansker’s Station, a reconstruction of a 1779 frontier fort where Kasper Mansker lived. Mansker is considered Goodlettsville’s first citizen. The fort is near Mansker’s Lick, one of the area’s salt licks where long hunters came to hunt and trap. John Donelson, one of the founders of Nashville, moved his family here after abandoning his Clover Bottom Station following an Indian attack in 1780. Living-history encampments held here several weekends a year offer demonstrations of frontier skills such as hide tanning, soap making, blacksmithing, butter churning, and fireside cookery. The three largest events are Yulefest, the fall encampment, and the Colonial Fair. Historic interpreters in period clothing provide tours daily from Mar through Dec. Tours are not available during Jan and Feb, but the interpretive center is open year-round.