Dixona

Dixona is a historic house in Smith County, Tennessee, near Dixon Springs. It is one of the oldest homes in Middle Tennessee.[2]

Dixona
Dixona
Nearest cityDixon Springs, Tennessee
Coordinates36°21′44″N 86°3′34″W
Area9 acres (3.6 ha)
Built1789 (1789)
Architectural styleLog house
NRHP reference No.73001832[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 5, 1973

The house was built in 1787–88 by Tilman Dixon, the Revolutionary War soldier who was Dixon Springs' first settler and namesake.[2] His land holdings, received as a Revolutionary War land grant, totaled 3,840 acres (1,550 ha).[3] In 1797, Louis Philippe, then Duke of Orleans and later King of France, stayed in Dixona together with his brothers, the Duke of Montpensier and Count of Beaujolais, during their travels in America.[2][3] The house was Smith County's first tavern and post office; in 1799 it was used as the site for the county's first county court meeting.[2][4]

The original house was an eight-room log building. A major expansion in 1858 added a pair of Italianate brick wings and Greek Revival-style porches with columns, converting it to a two-story "piano box" and increasing its size to more than 4,500 square feet (420 m2).[3][5][6][7] The original log structure still forms the core of the house.[7]

Dixona was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Since 2007, Dixona Farm, the 148-acre (60 ha) tract on which Dixona is located, has been protected by a conservation easement held by the Land Trust for Tennessee.[2][6]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "Dixona Farm". The Land Trust for Tennessee. Archived from the original on 2013-03-02.
  3. "A Stitch in Time". Wilson Living. Wilson County, Tennessee. Archived from the original on 2013-12-26.
  4. "Smith County". Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture.
  5. Brandt, Robert S. (1995). Touring the Middle Tennessee Backroads. John F. Blair. pp. 334–336.
  6. Johnson, Mark E. (October 11, 2011). "Walls of Time". Our Co-op Online. Tennessee Farmers Cooperative.
  7. West, Carroll Van (1995). Tennessee's Historic Landscapes: A Traveler's Guide. University of Tennessee Press. p. 311.
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