Historic log house relocated to H.G. Hill Park

SPNA neighbor and steering committee member Yvonne Eaves has written the following article for publication in the Westview newspaper. Please see below for more information about the recent relocation and rededication of a historic replica log house intended to represent Nashville founder James Robertson's residence:

Ten years ago the West Nashville Founders’ Museum Association dedicated a replica of James Robertson’s log house. The log house is located in the H. G. Hill Park on Charlotte Pike.

Due to the construction of the new Nashville West shopping center last fall, the log house was relocated in the park. Last month, the West Nashville Founders’ group reopened the log house. The group also planted two dogwood trees in memory of Ralph Cohen and Sarah Foster Kelley. Both were co-founders of the West Nashville Founders’ Museum Association. Mr. Cohen was a West Nashville businessman and a former councilman. Mr. Cohen was very well respected for all his civic contributions in West Nashville. Mrs. Kelley was a well-known historian and an author of many books and publications on the history of West Nashville. Mrs. Kelley was also a direct descendant of James Robertson.

A slice of West Nashville History is on display at the West Nashville Founders’ Museum. In the dogtrot of the replica James Robertson log house is a slice of a “Mossy Cup” Oak Tree. The oak tree was known to some in West Nashville as the Treaty Oak. The massive tree stood at 61st Ave North and Louisiana Ave in West Nashville. Historians believe the tree had its beginning between 1675 and 1680.

The mighty Treaty Oak was the setting for several treaties between James Robertson and the Chickasaw Indian tribes. During the 1940’s the tree was struck by lighting, the tree survived until the summer of 1956. At the time the tree fell it was believed to 6 feet around. The slice has shrunk down to 42 inches in diameter.

Great article about a great part of Nashville's history, Yvonne!