Rock Castle
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Rock Castle, the former home of Patriot and Senator Daniel Smith, was built starting in 1784 but was not finished until 1791 due to continuous attacks by Native Americans. The mansion consists of three sections and is built largely of rock (hence the name, Rock Castle) using lime mortar and sand between the stone blocks. Many slave cabins were also part of the original site. A smokehouse and a herb garden are also situated on the grounds. Herbs grown in the garden included rosemary, mint, and damask rose--used for perfume. The main crops grown on the farm were wheat and cotton. There is an extensive family cemetery on the property where over fifty of Smith's relatives are buried. All the grave markers are made of the same stone as the mansion. Rock Castle was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. Today the site is open to the public and people can view all eight of the original rooms for a nominal fee. The grounds and the cemetery can be viewed for free.
Images
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Sources
"History." Historic Rock Castle. Accessed January 23, 2015. https://www.historicrockcastle.com/about/history.
Photo: Sassy Countess, via Wikimedia Commons
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Castle_(Hendersonville,_Tennessee)#/media/File:Front_of_Historic_...