The Alexander Ewing House is a historic mansion in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, U.S. The two-story plantation home was built in 1821 in the

Federal architecture Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of And ...

style for Alexander Ewing. It is constructed of brick with a stone foundation and a

gable roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof c ...

. Both the north and south side elevations feature a pair of chimneys connected by a parapet wall. The house has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

since November 25, 1980.

History

Alexander Ewing was born May 10, 1752, in

Cecil County, Maryland Cecil County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The ...

. He was a veteran of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and the owner of 13 slaves. For his services in the war, Ewing was granted 2,666 acres of land in

Davidson County, Tennessee Davidson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in the heart of Middle Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 715,884, making it the 2nd most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Nashville, ...

. Ewing moved to Tennessee in 1786 and began adding to his land holdings in middle Tennessee in 1792. The Ewing House was built approximately 850 feet north of the Frederick Stump House, a tavern and inn from the late 1700s that is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was completed only a year before Ewing died in 1822. After Ewing's death, the house was inherited by his son William Black Ewing. By 1846, another son, Randall Ewing, sold the house to Cornelius Waggoner. By 1850, Randall Ewing moved westward for the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

. Meanwhile, Cornelius Waggoner lived in the house until 1872, when it was inherited by his son, Benjamin F. Waggoner. It is currently a private residence.

References

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Federal architecture in Tennessee Houses completed in 1821 Houses in Nashville, Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Nashville, Tennessee {{DavidsonCountyTN-NRHP-stub