Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park was a ceremonial grounds for woodland era Native Americans. It was never a fort at all but because that’s what the English thought it was when they discovered it that’s what they named it.

 

The walls were between 4 and 6 feet tall. Today they are covered by dirt and leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

More beautiful weather brought on another field trip to Nashville. This time we headed for Centennial Park. As we researched Tennessee’s Centennial we discovered that it wasn’t held in 1896. Due to budget constraints and bickering on where the money would come from, it was finally set to begin in May of 1897 and run through October 1897.

 

All of the beautiful buildings, with the exception of two, were torn down following the Centennial Exposition. One building was moved to Franklin and is now a private residence. The other building was the Parthenon. The Parthenon was one of the smaller buildings built for the Centennial which creates an image of the park area being filled with huge, gorgeous buildings. The Parthenon standing today was rebuilt in the early 1900s out of more durable materials.

 

 

 

 

Chloe is standing near what remains of the Women’s building during the Centennial.

 

Afterward we had lunch at the Elliston Place Soda Shop. It’s Nashville’s oldest restaurant that has remained in the same location.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we had been to the Ryman two weeks ago, I decided to take the kids to see where the Grand Ole Opry now plays.

 

 

 

We also stepped inside Opryland Hotel.

 

 

The weather has been gorgeous in Tennessee in January 2012! Because of the high temps outside, it has afforded us many opportunities to take field trips. This week Chloe has been studying Murfreesboro history. We took a walk down Main Street, read the plaques, talked about the architecture. It was fun imagining what life was like in Murfreesboro in the 1870-1920s during the reconstruction era when there was a push to build schools and universities.

 

 

 

 

 

Oaklands Historical House Museum is always a favorite historical spot to visit!