Belle Meade Plantation, now officially titled Belle Meade Historic Site and Winery, is a historic farm established in 1807 in Nashville, Tennessee, built, owned, and controlled by five generations of the Harding-Jackson family for nearly a century. The farm, named "Belle Meade" (beautiful meadow), grew to encompass 5,400 acres at its zenith and used a labor force of 136 enslaved workers. The farm's centerpiece was a Greek revival mansion built in 1853.

Belle Meade Farm gained a national reputation in the latter half of the 19th century for breeding thoroughbred horse racing stock, notably a celebrated stallion, Iroquois. In the Civil War, when the Union Army took control of Nashville, soldiers spent weeks quartered here, and the owner was imprisoned. In the aftermath, the plantation recovered with greatly reduced capacity. Roughly half of the enslaved persons returned as paid employees after the war and lived in their own homes nearby.

After a financial downturn in 1893 and later the death of the owner and his heir, the estate was dismantled and sold in parcels in 1906. Since 1953, the mansion has been administered in trust by the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities, a private non-profit corporation. In the 1970s, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

We highly encourage you to take the Journey to Jubilee Tour, which dives deeper into the experiences of Black Americans before and after emancipation and focuses on the history of enslavement and contract labor at Belle Meade and across the South, or the Mansion Tour while you’re visiting Nashville. You may explore ticket options at https://visitbellemeade.com/.

Please explore the grounds, enjoy the creek at the front of the property, and admire the hundreds-year-old magnolia trees. The grounds are ours to explore throughout the evening, and we invite you to arrive at the venue early to fully appreciate the site. The mansion and outbuildings will not be open after 5 pm.

Out of respect for the historic nature of the venue, those who came before us, and those who will learn from it after us, please keep the most raucous celebrations to the stables, carriage house, and side porches. We hope you appreciate the natural beauty and indispensable history of the site, as well as enjoy the wedding festivities.

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