A few miles from downtown Nashville, Glen Leven Farm is an important base of operations for The Land Trust for Tennessee. With significant cultural and ecological resources, the property is emblematic of the Land Trust’s mission to conserve the unique character of Tennessee’s natural and historic landscapes and sites for future generations. The 64-acre parcel is a significant example of a pre-Civil War Era plantation exploiting the labor of more than 140 enslaved African Americans to build wealth, political, and social prestige in the upper South. Many of the associated vernacular and agricultural landscape features of Glen Leven’s plantation-era landscape remain and thus bear witness to these important historical developments. The parcel represents the largest remnant landscape of the Civil War Battle of Nashville, during which at least 16 men formerly enslaved at Glen Leven fought for emancipation as part of the US Colored Troops. The property was donated to The Land Trust in 2006 by Thompson family descendant Susan West , an ardent advocate for farmland conservation and one of generations of women who actively engaged horticultural and agricultural production on these lands.
NBW recently completed a Cultural Landscape Synthesis that honors these stories and the underrepresented narratives of the many who have inhabited this land – from indigenous peoples to African American communities to Euro-American settlers. A Comprehensive Landscape Plan (CLP) for Glen Leven Farm, builds on this research, to provide a comprehensive roadmap for expanded educational and event programming and identifies opportunities for interpreting the land’s rich and diverse ecological and cultural resources.
The vision established in the CLP at Glen Leven Farm for The Land Trust for Tennessee will make visible its mission for public education and advocacy about the importance of land management and conservation and stewardship. It will offer the community a unique opportunity to learn about agriculture, ecology and the history of land development in Nashville prior to planning and conservation initiatives that dramatically shaped the growth of the city.
