BOWEN-CAMPBELL HOUSE

The Campbell-Bowen House, on the National Register of Historic Places, is located in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. Take I-65 north out of Nashville and exit the Long Hollow Pike. Turn east, cross Mansker's Creek and turn right onto Caldwell Road. It is located in Moss-Wright Park next to the Mansker's Fort replica.
When Captain William Bowen in 1784 brought his family to what is Middle Tennessee, this area was the frontier. At first they lived in a double log cabin. The house Bowen built in 1787, though simple and primitive in design, was a mansion compared to the log structures that were the only other dwellings for miles around. This over 200 year old building was one of the first houses built in Middle Tennessee; it is the oldest brick building standing today!

The brick was fired on the premises and was laid around all of the original house in the Flemish Bond style. Family records state that brick and stone masons were hired from Lexington, Kentucky. Glass for windows was brought from Lexington on pack horses.
The original structure consisted of four rooms - two downstairs and two above. There also were two dirt floored basement rooms, one of which had a huge fireplace likely used for cooking. At some later, undetermined time the north wing was added.
The placement of the fireplaces in the house is unusual. One chimney is built outside the wall and the other one is inside, making a perfect niche for closets. The mantles are wooden, decorated with reeded pilasters.
Upstairs there was no door between the two bedrooms; each was entered from below by a stairway. A custom was for the boys to occupy one side and the girls the other.
When restoration was begun in 1976, the house had been vacant for many years and most of what one sees is original; care was taken to save and restore all that possibly could be salvaged.
William Bowen's house was a center for social interactions of the times. His daughters were married there and he had many notable visitors before he died, most noteworthy being General Andrew Jackson. Williams widow, Mary continued her friendship with General Jackson's wife, Rachel, until Mary's death in 1827.

You can contact the Bowen-Campbell House Association, Inc. at PO Box 781, Goodlettsville, TN 37072.

For those of you who have good, video capable computers, I have a narrated video clip of the Bowen house. It is 46 mgs, so it may take a while to download, depending on your internet connection and other factors. But I think you will enjoy it.

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