Hermitage Club, Nashville, Tenn., 1910

A postcard of the Hermitage Club in Nashville, Tennessee. The Hermitage Club building was first a downtown residence in between Church and Union Streets at 233 Sixth Avenue North, then called High Street. The builder of the house was Confederate Army Major George W. Cunningham. The construction was completed in 1858. Cunningham fled south with his family at the war's outbreak, leaving the home vacant. During the Civil War, the two-story mansion was commandeered by generals on the Union side. Following the war, the Hermitage Club, an elite social club chartered in 1881, bought the Renaissance Revival-style building from Cunningham for $20,000. Members of the club added a third floor and a restaurant to the structure. Some of the many social activities held there included a debutante ball, Horse Show balls, and Jackson Day events to commemorate General Jackson's 1815 victory at the Battle of New Orleans. The Hermitage Club folded in 1934, and the building served Nashville as the University Club for a short while before being demolished to make room for a modern office building and parking lot. The site later became home to the Capitol Boulevard Building. Forms part of the Nashville Room Postcard Collection. 1 postcard : col. ; 3.5 x 5.5 in.