Travellers Rest Historic House Museum

This heritage site is a part of the American Battlefield Trust's Road to Freedom: Tennessee Tour Guide app, which showcases sites integral to the Black experience during the Civil War era. Download the FREE app now.

Travellers Rest, the historic plantation home of the influential Overton family, stands on the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee. 

While it witnessed significant moments in history, including visits from figures like Andrew Jackson and Sam Houston, it was also the site of profound human suffering, as enslaved African Americans labored under the harsh realities of plantation life.

Built in 1799 by John Overton, a Superior Court judge for the state of Tennessee, Travellers Rest covered 1,050 acres and carried a value of $68 million by today’s dollar.

It was also home to 80 enslaved peoples who served as both skilled laborers and made up the manual workforce behind Overton’s agricultural pursuits.

Despite Overton’s death in 1833, his widow, son and daughter-in-law continued to occupy the home.  

The war brought significant changes to the plantation. After Union forces occupied Nashville in February 1862, Col. John Overton, the son of John Overton, abandoned the family home and fled to seek safety behind Confederate lines.

In December 1864, the Overton family, staunch Confederate supporters, saw a brief moment of resurgence when Travellers Rest was used as the headquarters for Confederate Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood and his Army of Tennessee during the intense Battle of Nashville.

In an ironic turn of events, a key moment in the Battle of Nashville occurred when U.S. Colored Troops defeated Confederate forces at Peach Orchard Hill, which was a piece of land belonging to the Overton family's Travellers Rest plantation.

In 1954, the plantation was saved from demolition and restored to become an operating museum.

Today, the museum strives to share history of both Black and white occupants on the Overton plantation, with ongoing research into the lives of those formerly enslaved at Travellers Rest compiled in its comprehensive Travellers Rest Enslaved Persons Documentation Project.

Know Before You Go

Check out the Travellers Rest Historic House Museum official website.