Three Tennessee Sites Added to the National Register of Historic Places

Nashville, Tenn. –The Tennessee Historical Commission has announced three Tennessee sites have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register of Historic Places is the nation’s official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation.  It is part of a nationwide program that coordinates and supports efforts to identify, evaluate and protect historic resources. The Tennessee Historical Commission administers the program in Tennessee.

Sites recently added to the National Register of Historic Places include:

• Marion Memorial Bridge - The 1,870-foot long Marion Memorial Bridge, located six miles southeast of Jasper at Haletown (Marion County) was built by the Grier-Lowrence Company of North Carolina between 1929-1930. Composed of a 140-foot Warren truss and two, 365-foot Parker trusses, the bridge is important as a reminder of early efforts of the state highway department to provide good roads and bridges in Tennessee. The bridge connected Chattanooga and Jasper, part of the Western Division of the historic Dixie Highway, and it shorted the distance between Nashville and Chattanooga. The bridge was a toll bridge from 1931-1947. The toll house is no longer standing. The bridge is scheduled for replacement, though there is interest in preserving it.
• Universal Life Insurance Company - The 1949 Universal Life Insurance Company in Memphis (Shelby County) is important as an example of the Egyptian Revival style. The Egyptian Revival style was a short-lived style popular a century before Universal Life was built. It is unusual to see a building of this style from the mid-twentieth century. The well-known architectural firm of McKissack and McKissack designed the insurance building. The firm is generally considered the first African American architectural firm in the country. The Universal Life building also has historic importance as a business that permitted African Americans to accumulate capital, not just in simple burial policies, but also in terms of annuities, bonds, and other forms of investment.
• Whitland Area Neighborhood District - The Whitland Area Neighborhood Historic District in Nashville (Davidson County) began in 1910 as a subdivision of the Whitland Realty Company. The city was expanding to the west along streetcar lines and the sixty-acre new subdivision grew slowly at first. By the 1920s and continuing through World War II, houses filled up the platted lots. The district contains good examples of twentieth century revival styles, such as Tudor Revival and Colonial Revival, and many Craftsman and Minimal Traditional styles. In 1980 the Whitland Area Neighborhood Association was formed and it continues to be active today. In addition to preparing the National Register nomination, the association has a home tour, publishes the area’s history, and has an active marker program.

For more information about the National Register of Historic Places or the Tennessee Historical Commission, please visit the Web site at www.tdec.net/hist.