Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-12-11
YEAR OF PROGRESS.
The March OF Improvement i'm Nash
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mllions well Expended.

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"A patriot of other times invited leade
of eminence to see the defenses of his city
The invited guest expected to see grir
battlements, crested walls, frowning tur
rets and moated gates, inpervious to tn
enginery of war. On reaching the city
however. he saw none of these. Instead
he saw large public and private buildings
finished In the highest style OF nrt, al
around about him. Amazed at seeing 81
many hardy men. trained to arms or x
forward the work Of mighty city, anc
still more amazed at seeing no outer wall
circling its evirons, he asked, 'sWhere arr
your dsfenses?" Pointing proudly to tn
array of men before him, the patriot said
THESE are our defenses.
Tie leader left for his fields OF strife
wiser man. The stranger and the Visito'
to our great and growing city who ma!
have been here at any time during the pre-
sent and closing year, though no FASHIONED
forts or sentineied palisades greeted hi
vision could have looked upon the armies
Of mechanics and working men engaged il
erecting buildings all oveHthe city presslni
forward the work of improvement, willis
we could have pointed to them and sal!
exultantly.."These are Nashville detenses.
Il has been year of improvements un
precedented in the history of the city
The features of some localities have beer
SO vastly changed and improved that the,
do not look like the same they were yea
ago. At the hight Of the building season
the blasting of excavations resounded hk'
batteries of artillery ard the ring o
the hammer, the rasping OF the saw
the driving of the bolt, the thud OF the
mallst, the thwack OF the upllfted axe, anc
the rattle of timbers were heard on al
sides. Some portions OF the city were
for time, literally perforated with drhi
and studded with derrick. The energies
of our citizens, with their means, their ap
pliances and their auxiliaries, were direct
ed to the work of building, and the hardy
son of labor gave his muscle and his
might to the same pursuit. AS result
we see to-day, as the short staying sun o.
winter crosses the heavens, hundreds o.
stately ediices on our thoroughtares, and
cottages dotting our suburbs, garnltured
with his rising and his setting glories. We
can look back and feel that with the com
mencsment of the present year, Vlgo-
rous impetus has been given to our on
ward progress, and that the year 1870 has
marked an epoch wide and deep IN the
history of Nashville.
Those who have given the subject only
casual attention may we'll be astounded at
the strides we have made IN one snort
year in the channel Of Improvements. We
have given the subject earnest lnyestlga-
ton: we have been over the city and
around the suburbs; we have talked with
the capitalists and figured with the con-
tractor; we have proftably conversed with
the builder and The laborer while at his
frugal meal from his tin bucket and in the
interval of his brief respites; we have
seen these buildings commenced and We
have seen them finished, and We see
others daily that will be completed by the
close of the year. Very many Of them we
have jotted down with their locations from
time to time, not muttering any hayward
fancies as we went"
In all parts of the city these improve
ments have been carried on. Wet Nash
vile comes in for large share of them,
from the elegant mansion to the neat cot
tage and the more moderate dwelling.
Edgefsld (for she is a part of us) glitters
among and beyond her long drawn aisles
of trees with new buildings, like diamond
without a flaw. South Nashville comes in
with her lust claims to this Iewness of
life; her very suburbs ere checkered off
with new streets, which are lined with new
buildings. some of them of no ordinary
dimensions. Away in North Nashville,
which formerly looked like a deserted
H. - 10 &c
and the wild bird built its nest, street cars
penetrate, and hundreds Of buildings are
going up and others are finished, the roofs
of which have yet to meet the soft, cold
kiss of virgin snow. There too, with its
solid walls, its long front, its many windows,
so many eyes looking southwark for the
coming of the great staple the nav of its
to devour, is the standard point
of our industries, the great cotton factory,
the whirr of whose spindles, and the rattle of
whose shuttles will soon giving employ
ment to hundreds Of hands. Agricultural
Implement establishments, machine shops,
establishments Of various
have sprung up, or been put IN
process OF completion in various portions
of the city. In the central part of the city
palatial mansions and magnificent business
houses have been completed that would
have adorned the most elegant boulevards
of La Belle Paris before Frederick William
crossed the Rhine. Even Lick Branch
turns to laughing waters as 1T nipples
by new and substantial buildings, which
the norved and tireless hand of progress
has showed upon the boundaries of the
'Jungles.'
ECs--bo.o -, saav, tI,aua crratifyip n
marks of improvements not alone in the
city and on the outskirts, but all around
and about the suburbs.
From actual observation, we can affirm,
that there have been erected IN Nashville
and Edgefeld and surroundings, during
the present year, OF will have been COM
pleted by its close, near four hundred
buildings, including residences, business
houses, cottages, ware rooms, etc. The
actual count, taking all great and small in
to consideration, might even go beyond
four hundred. The cost of these improve
ments when completed will not fall short
of two million dollars. As before stated
they are all over the city, and this Judicious
expenditure during the year has not only
caused Us to bound forward with
tie leap of the lion in our
advance as q city, but has given remunera-
tive employment to thousands OF hands,
and furnished demand for the material OF
our forests. our mills, our mines and our
workshops. For We will say by way of pa
rcnthesis that the material used In these
buildings has in every instance, where 1t
could be, been procured at home. Enough
we cannot within the limits Of an article
Ike this begin to enumerate each OF these
buildings separately, we cannot refrain
from mentioning few of the most proml-
nent and costly, with an approximate estl-
mate of their cost We will say that the
costs as given aye the rough estimates OF
building, ste, and may vary, in many in
stances going beyond the fgares according
to the elegance of interior finish, etc.
First. then, is the cotton factory, in North
Nashville, cost $780, 200.
The manufacturing establishment OF l..
II. Jones & Co, to be completed early IN
1S7I) $50. 900.
Church of the Advent, completed last
summer, $25, 600
John Browns new stone front store
house. on Summer street, cost $40, 900.
Lewis Madden and SCOTS block OF stores
\ Qreo bLOll6S ntSu, bOllAoGoS NOANSA Va
Church and Summer, $28, 800.
+ G. III. D. Oantrell's block on Summer
street, adjoining the former two stores,
three stories high, SIG,500.
Carter & Thompsons block on the St
Cloud ste, corner of Church and Summer,
S28 $50.
Cannon, Horton & Watkins block, cor
ner of Church and Spruce, street, SIC, 500.
Mrs, Bryants block Of buildings, three
houses, two story and basement, Spruce
street, $12, 800.
Allowsy's block, two stores four and a
half stories high, on Church street,
$40. 900.
DIR. Blske's House on Spruce street
SIS. 800; Henry ClsIk's house on Spruce
street 81, 900; Mr. Ewing's house on Ewing S
avenue $4,000; MIR. Ready's house or
NcGavock street 81, 500; John kilcoin r
house on Broad street 5000.
Mr.. Vessels store on College street
so. 600: State Iusuranc' building on Col
Iege street $4,000; Morris & Stratton
building, corner of CLARK and Market
streets $40 600: judge John NJ. Lisa s