NASHVILLE– This week Historic Travellers Rest is utilizing ground penetrating radar to survey the property in an effort to better understand life years ago. This technology is able to scan deep into the ground to see previous artifacts, structures, and more. This allows a glimpse into the past without disturbing the site. Before this type
On December 16, 1864, the second and final day of fighting during the Battle of Nashville commenced. A large portion of the fighting occurred on Peach Orchard Hill; a significant high ground also called Overton Hill for its location on the property of Colonel John Overton. The hill was situated a quarter of a mile
by Benita Sims After joining the staff here at Historic Travellers Rest I found myself drawn to the bed warmer we keep on the bed in the Cold Room. (I love all the well-used artifacts we have and often imagine the hands that used them.) I began telling people about the way the bed warmer
The fall chill that we are all feeling in the air means something different to many people; football season, Halloween, pumpkin-spice lattes, or time to get started on Christmas shopping. One of our favorite parts of the season is the changing of the leaves. Travellers Rest is truly blessed to have so many different species
As an archaeologist, there is nothing more exciting than uncovering objects that haven’t been seen for hundreds or thousands of years. However, the act of removing these artifacts from their context within the ground is in itself destructive. Once deposits are removed from the ground they cannot be put back, and any information that was
By. Lucy J. Hamaamen Through guided research and analyses of a multitude of plantation women of Mary Overton’s time, one can determine a sound assumption of Mary’s life, status, and home expertise. To discuss these factors of antebellum women’s lives means to also immerse oneself into the social and economic matters of the time since
Travellers Rest claims to have nearly one thousand years of history. However, based on a recently obtained radiocarbon date from a prehistoric cooking hearth there are closer to 800 years of history at the site. The radiocarbon date revealed that Native people were living at the site as early as 1270 to 1316 A.D., approximately
Two Tennessee families share a unique history of a property and family connection along with an oral history about how they coped during a diphtheria outbreak in Nashville, Tennessee during the mid-1880s. Travellers Rest, home of the Overton family was built in 1799 while Glen Leven, home of the Thompson family was built in 1857; their properties abutted each other with