| 1849/00/00 |
Adelicia Acklen |
Owner |
Adelicia Hayes Franklin purchases three parcels of land that become the nucleus for her Belmont Estate. |
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| 1849/08/05 |
William Strickland |
Architect |
Adelicia Hayes Franklin marries Joseph AS Acklen. They begin construction of Belmont soon after their wedding. William Strickland is said to have been the architect, but no verification of this assumption has been made. |
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| 1849/08/05 |
Adelicia Acklen |
Home |
Adelicia Hayes Franklin marries Joseph AS Acklen. They begin construction of Belmont soon after their wedding. William Strickland is said to have been the architect, but no verification of this assumption has been made. |
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| 1853/08/00 |
Adelicia Acklen |
Home |
Belmont Mansion's construction is complete by late summer and the Acklens move into their new summer home. |
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| 1856/00/00 |
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The construction of a neo-classical art gallery, designed by Joseph begins just west of the mansion. The building includes guest rooms and a bowling alley. |
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| 1859/00/00 |
Adolphus Heiman |
Architect |
Prussian born architect, Adolphus Heiman, is retained to redesign the estate in the Italianate Villa style, this includes constructing the Grand Salon. |
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| 1861/00/00 |
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Outbreak of the Civil War alters the Acklens' lives forever as Adelicia begins to live at Belmont year round. |
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| 1864/12/05 |
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During the first two weeks of December, Union Gen Thomas J Wood and 13,000 troops encamp at Belmont. They destroyed outbuildings, fences, stone walls and the landscaped grounds. Union troops used the water tower as a signal tower and observation post. |
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Battle of Nashville |
| 1866/00/00 |
Adelicia Acklen |
Home |
Adelicia's Grand Tour purchases begin to arrive in Nashville. Her five marble statues, four of which remain in the home. She collected paintings, engravings, portraits and statuary which decorated the mansion. |
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| 1866/06/00 |
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Restoration of the landscaped grounds begins to repair damage left by the war. Cast iron gazebos are placed in the gardens. |
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| 1867/01/00 |
Adelicia Acklen |
Home |
Adelicia demolishes Joseph's art gallery and constructs a new Italianate structure containing a billiard room and bowling alley on the east side of the estate. |
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| 1884/12/22 |
Adelicia Acklen |
Home |
Adelicia and three of her adult children leave Belmont to winter in Orlando, Florida. This is the last time Adelicia sees Belmont in her lifetime. |
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| 1887/01/11 |
Adelicia Acklen |
Owner |
Adelicia sells Belmont to Lewis T Baxter who heads a land development company planning to divide the estate into building lots. |
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| 1889/00/00 |
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The house and 13 acres are sold to Miss Susan Heron and Miss Ida Hood. They purchased Belmont in order to turn the home into a women's college. |
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| 1890/00/00 |
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Belmont College for Young Women opens in the fall. The upstairs bedrooms, formal dining and billiards room are converted into dormitories. |
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| 1913/00/00 |
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Belmont College for Young Women merges with Ward Seminary and becomes Ward-Belmont College. |
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| 1942/00/00 |
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Dinner at Belmont by Alfred Crabb is published. First in the trilogy of historical novels that featured Nashville landmarks (Supper at the Maxwell House and Breakfast at The Hermitage) depicts the social significance of Belmont during the Civil War. |
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| 1951/00/00 |
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Ward-Belmont closes and the school reopens as a co-educational, four year college. The home is used as a student center for the new school. |
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| 1972/00/00 |
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Belmont Mansion Association is formed to preserve and restore the home. All walls separating the dorms are removed and the rooms restored to sitting rooms. |
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| 1973/00/00 |
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All furniture not dating from Adelicia's time at Belmont are removed from the home. Nearly seventy pieces of furniture and three statues remain. |
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| 1976/07/02 |
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Belmont Mansion opens for tours to the public. Eight rooms were included on the original tour. |
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