Ellington Agricultural Center

Ellington Agricultural Center is a little-known place that I consider to be one of Nashville’s treasures. Once a private estate, it is now owned by the State of Tennessee and used for government purposes but open to the public. If you take Hogan Road away from Franklin Road, you will run right into it. There is also an entrance on Edmondson Pike.
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We’ve been blessed with a whole week of gorgeous, sunny days with temperatures in the 70’s, so one day I took the dogs and went over there to take some pictures while the leaves were pretty. Before I got married I lived right down the road from it, so Dasha and I went over there often. She LOVED it. I merely had to say, "Do you want to go the Ag Center?" and she would begin dancing in circles. I don’t go nearly as often now since it’s not so close by, but just to test her, I asked her that question. Sure enough, she remembered. Nash joined in the excitement too.
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Up on a hill in front of the main entrance is Brentwood Hall, a home built during the 1920’s by Rogers Caldwell.

Just to your right is a beautiful hill with a gazebo at the foot of it. This is where Don and I got engaged.
The gardens behind the gazebo are planted with various kinds of irises and are a burst of purples, pinks, whites and even yellows in the springtime. The iris is the Tennessee state flower.
There is a museum section consisting of several buildings containing all types of historical artifacts. Admission is free.
Not long after Don and I first started dating, we came for a walk over here and got caught in a rainstorm. We ended up on the porch here talking for probably an hour. (Hmmm . . . I might just like this guy.)
There are all types of trees, now showing off their beautiful fall colors.
A number of gardens can be found, not in full bloom right now, but pretty nonetheless. The tree in the middle of this one is a tulip poplar, the Tennessee state tree.
As I said in an earlier blog, I am fascinated by old cemeteries. Some of the graves in this one pre-date the Civil War.
The horses that live here are used by the Metro Nashville Police’s Mounted Patrol.
There are walking trails that wind around the 207-acre campus where you may get some exercise and enjoy the beauty of it all. There are a few picnic tables scattered about, if you want to take your dinner. This can be a fun, no-cost outing for the whole family.