| Lindsley Hall | |
| Location: | 724 2nd Avenue, South Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Architect: | Adolphus Heiman |
| Architecture: | Gothic Revival |
| Added: | May 6, 1971 |
| Refnum: | 71000818 |
Lindsley Hall is a historic building in Nashville, Tennessee. Built in the antebellum South as the main building of the University of Nashville, it served as a Union hospital during the Civil War.[1] It became the Nashville Children's Museum in 1945. In 1974 the museum moved to a new facility at 800 Fort Negley Boulevard, became the Cumberland Science Museum and is now known as the Adventure Science Center.[2] The building is once again called Lindsley Hall and is used by the City of Nashville for Metro Government offices.[3]
The building is located at 724 2nd Avenue South in Nashville, the county seat of Davidson County, Tennessee in the Southern United States.[4] [5]
The building, constructed with grey limestone, was completed in 1853.[5] It was designed by Prussian-born architect Adolphus Heiman in the Gothic Revival architectural style.[5] It was built as the main hall for the University of Nashville while the university was closed from 1850 to 1855 due to a cholera epidemic.[5] It was named Lindsley Hall in honor of Dr John Berrien Lindsley, who served as the Chancellor of the University of Nashville from 1855 to its demise in 1873.[5] [6] During the American Civil War, it was turned into a hospital for the Union Army in 1862.[5]
From 1867 to 1905, the building was home to the Montgomery Bell Academy, Peabody College, and the Agricultural and Industrial State Normal College (later renamed Tennessee State University, a historically black university).[5] From 1914 to 1925, it was home to the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.[5] Later, it was used as an armory for the Tennessee State Guard and as a public health center.[5] The building was the location of the Nashville Children's Museum from 1945 to 1974.[5] [7] More recently, it was renovated as an office building to USGBC LEED Silver standard in 2011.[8]
It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since May 6, 1971.[4]