Baptist Female College / Adams House
Baptist Female College Dormitory
Woodbury College Dormitory
Dr. Jesse F. Adams House
Woodbury College Dormitory
Dr. Jesse F. Adams House
The Baptist Female College / Adams House, built by William Wharton in 1859, was eligible for the National Register for Historic Places under criteria A, B and C. The house has two distinct periods of significance. It is eligible under criterion A for its use as a dormitory at the Baptist Female College, later Woodbury College from 1859 to 1917. It was eligible under criterion B because of its association with Dr. Jesse F. Adams from 1924 to 1934. Adams, a local physician who was a social and humanitarian leader in Cannon County, used the building as his private dwelling. It was also eligible under criterion C for its significance to Woodbury and Cannon County in architecture. The building is a vernacular form exhibiting the craftsmanship of William Wharton, an important local builder, and is a significant example of the transitional Greek Revival/Italinate style typical of the period in middle Tennessee.
The cornerstone for the Baptist Female College was laid in 1859, but the state legislature did not actually charter the school until 1860.
M.R. Rushing, one of the school's trustees and principal donors, contracted with William Wharton to build a dormitory between 1857-1859 for students. The second dormitory stood at the head of Hollis Creek Road, but burned in the mid-twentieth century.
Due to its denominational character, its exclusive female student body, its heavy debt, and the demands of the Civil War, the college faced bankruptcy by 1867. In August of that year, Cannon County citizens and church and college officials met to decide the college's future. They elected a new board of trustees and renamed the college the Woodbury Male and Female College, with the provision that the school would be nondenominational.
The establishment of the Woodbury Male and Female College gave the institution the stability it needed to expand and prosper. Courses such as orthography, mental arithmetic, philosophy, chemistry and 'all the high studies taught in any college' were offered. By 1884 the school had a president and five teachers. In 1896, the college acquired the services of E.L. Lehman as president who guided the institution for the next twenty years. Due to Lehman's excellent record as an administrator and educator, Woodbury College became a prestigious private school, and was often called Lehman Academy in recognition of the outstanding work of its president.
In 1917, the board of trustees for Woodbury College closed the school's doors. The following year the school served as the Brandon Training School, but graduated only one student.
In 1919, the college's stockholders filed the necessary legal papers transferring the school and its buildings to the Cannon County government for use as a public school.
M.R. Rushing, one of the school's trustees and principal donors, contracted with William Wharton to build a dormitory between 1857-1859 for students. The second dormitory stood at the head of Hollis Creek Road, but burned in the mid-twentieth century.
Due to its denominational character, its exclusive female student body, its heavy debt, and the demands of the Civil War, the college faced bankruptcy by 1867. In August of that year, Cannon County citizens and church and college officials met to decide the college's future. They elected a new board of trustees and renamed the college the Woodbury Male and Female College, with the provision that the school would be nondenominational.
The establishment of the Woodbury Male and Female College gave the institution the stability it needed to expand and prosper. Courses such as orthography, mental arithmetic, philosophy, chemistry and 'all the high studies taught in any college' were offered. By 1884 the school had a president and five teachers. In 1896, the college acquired the services of E.L. Lehman as president who guided the institution for the next twenty years. Due to Lehman's excellent record as an administrator and educator, Woodbury College became a prestigious private school, and was often called Lehman Academy in recognition of the outstanding work of its president.
In 1917, the board of trustees for Woodbury College closed the school's doors. The following year the school served as the Brandon Training School, but graduated only one student.
In 1919, the college's stockholders filed the necessary legal papers transferring the school and its buildings to the Cannon County government for use as a public school.
Located at 210 South College Street in Woodbury, Cannon County, Tennessee, the Baptist Female College/ Adams House is a two-story, common bond brick building capped by an asphalt shingle gable roof that exhibits the influence of Inalianate and Greek Revival architectural styles. It's L-shaped configuration places a heavy reliance on the basic I-house form. Highlighted by wooden trim on the baseboards and built-in clothes cupboards, the interior features the typical hallway and two flaking rooms on each floor typical of the I-house, whole the north wing originally had two first floor and three second floor rooms. The house is now a private residence, but it initially served as a dormitory for the Baptist Female College and later Woodbury College. Standing a few hundred yards south of the main college building, the dormitory once was an integral part of the landscape drive that connected the college to the town's main road. Today, that landscaped drive is now South College Street, a neighborhood that is among Woodbury's most historic and aesthetically pleasing. The historic fabric of the building, both in its exterior and interior, has experienced little change since the building's original construction in 1859-1860. The building retains a high degree of historic integrity.
From the east (front) facade, the house displays typical I-house form. A three-bay facade consists of a projecting pedimented portico, flanked by a single twelve-light shuttered windows which are original and retain most of the original leaded-glass rectangular panes. Stone lintels and wooden shutters frame the windows. The current owners added to present shutters in 1983; however, there is evidence of previous hardware for shutters on the est facade windows. There are two internal end chimneys with a sough chimney featuring a plain flue design and a north chimney of single flue design. The difference between the two chimneys suggests that the south chimney has, at some time, been repaired or replaced, although no date for this change can be documented. The two-story classical portico has upper and lower story narrow double door entries. Both double doors are trabeated with classically detailed molded wooden siglights and transoms of leaded glass. The double doors on both the first and second stories are original; their sidlight pilasters display vertical Doric form. The two-story wooden pedimented portico is supported by Doric-inspired columns. The pediment itself has a cornice and corona and exhibits molding details that create the appearance of three pediments within one. In the early 1930's, the two=story porch extensions, which extended beneath the second story windows, were removed, leaving the east facade with its present appearance. The eaves of the east facade show a decorative frieze and singular intricate double=pendant brackets. This decorative treatment is continued along the north side and can be found on all three end gables.
The west and south facades of the house demonstrate its L-shaped configuration. On the west (rear) facade, the wooden frieze is plain.
There are two symmetrically-placed single twelve-light windows. The second floor window has a plain stone lintel. The first floor window, however, contains no lintel. According to family tradition, Dr. Adams, soon after purchasing the old dormitory in 1924, found that the wall surrounding this window 'had bucked out.' In replacing the brick at this area of the house, Dr. Adams decided against replacing the lintel of the window. The gable end of the wing features a decorative frieze with singular intricate double-pendant brackets. The frieze, however, abruptly ends where the west end of the second story porch has been enclosed to conceal modern heating and cooling equipment. The one=story kitchen/dining room, with a concrete foundation, has an asphalt composition shingle roof with a chimney of single flue design. Attached to the west end of this addition is a shed carport that Dr. Adams added to the back of the kitchen in the late 1930's.
The south facade continues the decorative detailing found on the east facade's frieze with singular intricate double-pendant brackets on its gable with returns. The south side of the "L" has a two-story porch extending along the full length of the two-story projection. The supports for the porch and its second story railings are plain wooden square posts. The second floor has two doors and two twelve-light windows, each with a stone lintel. The doorways and windows are at their original locations; a modern screen door has been added to the door on the westernmost end of the porch. Otherwise the doors, according to family tradition, are original to the period of the school dormitory. They provided the students with direct access to the outside of the building. Evidenced of a former stairway that linked the first and second floors of the wing from the outside also can be found on the west end of the porch. This former stairway connected the two floors on the outside and provided for easier access for students. The wing's chimney is centrally located and of a single flue design. The first floor of the porch originally five doors and two twelve-light windows; however, one of the doorways at the eastern end of the wing has converted to a window at an unknown date. Today the first floor porch has four doorways; two connecting interior rooms to the porch, one connecting the porch to the kitchen and one connecting the porch to the foyer. The one-story kitchen/dining room contains a set of four eighteen-light windows framed by a stone lintel. The heating and cooling unit for the first floor has been located outside of the house proper, and stands beside an eight-light window for the basement of the one-story kitchen/dining room.
Architectural investigations indicate that the one-story kitchen/dining room is an addition to the house. Outside, on the west facade, under the carport shed, can be seen a break line in the brick. The brick is slightly different on either side of this break line. Following the line upward, it goes over to meet the chimney forming a gable line. Inside, a large beam extends from the inside edge of the kitchen square to meet the main rear addition wall. Thus, indications are that the kitchen was originally detached and connected to the main house by a covered passageway. The kitchen, at an unknown later date, was incorporated into the main dormitory. These changes, according to interviews with the current owner, took place at least prior to 1905.
The north facade of the building is generally expressive of the classical order and symmetry often associated with the I-house form. There are six symmetrically placed twelve-light windows, each with a stone lintel on the two-story portion of the building. However, the eastermost windows are located underneath the the western end of the gable; the wing has two additional pairs of windows. The eaves show a decorative frieze and singular intricate double pendant brackets made of wood. The one-story kitchen/dining room contains two twelve-light windows. The north facade demonstrates that the brick work has been repointed in the twentieth century. According to the family, this brick work took place in 1924 when Dr. Adams acquired the property as his private home.
No major structural changes have been made to the interior of the house. Originally the first floor of the building contained a south parlor (today the living room), which featured a fireplace with wooden mantle; an entrance hall with a staircase leading to the second floor, a door to the front porch as well as a door to the rear; and a dining room, which featured a fireplace and wooden mantle identical to that of the south parlor, in the I-house portion. The wing had a bedroom (today the den), with separate outdoor entrance, a second bedroom (today the study), again with separate outdoor entrance, and the kitchen (today a breakfast room, kitchen and bathroom). Only the flooring on the south parlor, which had been heavily water damaged, is of recent origin. It was replaced in the early 1980's by owner David Arnold.
Otherwise, the hardwood floors of ash and poplar, wooden baseboards, and staircases of the first floor are original. The two staircases, in fact, are very similar. The staircase in the front hall is forty inches wide and has a simple round banister, square stair rails, and a turned baluster. The stair in the rear wing is thirty-six inches wide and has an octagonal banister, square stair rails, and a turned baluster. The baseboards are twelve inches high downstairs and six and one half inches in height on the second floor. The fireplaces are original and can be found in every room except the hallways and the back downstairs room. While the kitchen has a brick fireplace, the others have wooden mantels in a simple classical vernacular style. The mantels are identical except that the south parlor and dining room on the first floor contain a decorative beveled edge which the others lack. That the ore decorative mantles are located in the social/public sections of the dormitory is typical of that period.
Although the original use of these rooms is unknown, speculation can be made based on studies of similarly arranged buildings. The south parlor was probably a social/entertainment room where visitors could be met and entertained; student group activities could have also taken place in this room. The dining room was another social center within the house; communal dining for the students probably took place here. In all probability, the two bedrooms of the wing were reserved for students. The rooms share a chimney flue and both have identical wooden mantles over the fireplaces. The eastern most bedroom has a stairway that leads to the second floor, connecting this probable student area to the student area of the second floor wing. Otherwise, the upstairs wing does not connect the front portion of the house inside. The room contain large clothes cupboards. Measuring six feet eight inches in height by three feet in width and thirteen inches in depth, the cupboards retain their original wooden double doors and keyhole. Students were able to store their clothes and belongings in the cupboards, allowing more beds to be placed in each room due to the absence of chests of drawers and other furniture used for storing clothes.
The kitchen has always been located in the westernmost chamber of the first floor. Upon acquiring the house in 1924, Dr. Adams transformed a portion of the kitchen area into a bathroom; the remainder of this area the family used as a dining room. Today the current owners use this dining room area as a breakfast room. The kitchen is a square set into the right rear of the room; it has exposed brick walls. The kitchen and bath have an L-shaped area for dining and a door from the rear of the "L" leads to the shed-style carport.
Originally, the second floor had a large bedroom with fireplace and mantle, hall with staircase (today the upstairs foyer), and a second bedroom with fireplace and mantle in the I-house portion of the building. The wing originally contained two roughly equal bedrooms; the easternmost room contains a staircase to the first floor and the westernmost room has a doorway to the second floor porch. Both possess a fireplace and mantle and clothes cupboard. Today, the easternmost bedroom is a dressing room, while the western bedroom is the master bedroom. The exact use of these rooms in the past is unknown today, but, since each of the four bedrooms contains the identical type of clothes cupboards found in the first floor bedrooms (and the bedroom in the southern corner contains two such cupboards), it can be assumed that the entire second floor was reserved as sleeping quarters. In general, these rooms contain their original woodwork, fireplaces, mantles, and hardwood floors, and they retain all the original doorways of the building when it served as a dormitory. However, the current owners in 1984 transformed a portion of the bedroom in the northeastern corner into a bathroom.
Today the building displays layout characteristics, such as very limited access between the two wings and outside access for most rooms, that are common to a dormitory. These characteristics have been largely retained, although they are inconvenient for a private residence. Due to the many original outside doors, the original clothes cupboards found in every room except for the parlor, dining room, and kitchen of the first floor, and the layout of the rooms, the building has the feel and appearance of a dormitory. Despite its use a s a private residence for over sixty years. The building retains a high degree of architectural integrity.
From the east (front) facade, the house displays typical I-house form. A three-bay facade consists of a projecting pedimented portico, flanked by a single twelve-light shuttered windows which are original and retain most of the original leaded-glass rectangular panes. Stone lintels and wooden shutters frame the windows. The current owners added to present shutters in 1983; however, there is evidence of previous hardware for shutters on the est facade windows. There are two internal end chimneys with a sough chimney featuring a plain flue design and a north chimney of single flue design. The difference between the two chimneys suggests that the south chimney has, at some time, been repaired or replaced, although no date for this change can be documented. The two-story classical portico has upper and lower story narrow double door entries. Both double doors are trabeated with classically detailed molded wooden siglights and transoms of leaded glass. The double doors on both the first and second stories are original; their sidlight pilasters display vertical Doric form. The two-story wooden pedimented portico is supported by Doric-inspired columns. The pediment itself has a cornice and corona and exhibits molding details that create the appearance of three pediments within one. In the early 1930's, the two=story porch extensions, which extended beneath the second story windows, were removed, leaving the east facade with its present appearance. The eaves of the east facade show a decorative frieze and singular intricate double=pendant brackets. This decorative treatment is continued along the north side and can be found on all three end gables.
The west and south facades of the house demonstrate its L-shaped configuration. On the west (rear) facade, the wooden frieze is plain.
There are two symmetrically-placed single twelve-light windows. The second floor window has a plain stone lintel. The first floor window, however, contains no lintel. According to family tradition, Dr. Adams, soon after purchasing the old dormitory in 1924, found that the wall surrounding this window 'had bucked out.' In replacing the brick at this area of the house, Dr. Adams decided against replacing the lintel of the window. The gable end of the wing features a decorative frieze with singular intricate double-pendant brackets. The frieze, however, abruptly ends where the west end of the second story porch has been enclosed to conceal modern heating and cooling equipment. The one=story kitchen/dining room, with a concrete foundation, has an asphalt composition shingle roof with a chimney of single flue design. Attached to the west end of this addition is a shed carport that Dr. Adams added to the back of the kitchen in the late 1930's.
The south facade continues the decorative detailing found on the east facade's frieze with singular intricate double-pendant brackets on its gable with returns. The south side of the "L" has a two-story porch extending along the full length of the two-story projection. The supports for the porch and its second story railings are plain wooden square posts. The second floor has two doors and two twelve-light windows, each with a stone lintel. The doorways and windows are at their original locations; a modern screen door has been added to the door on the westernmost end of the porch. Otherwise the doors, according to family tradition, are original to the period of the school dormitory. They provided the students with direct access to the outside of the building. Evidenced of a former stairway that linked the first and second floors of the wing from the outside also can be found on the west end of the porch. This former stairway connected the two floors on the outside and provided for easier access for students. The wing's chimney is centrally located and of a single flue design. The first floor of the porch originally five doors and two twelve-light windows; however, one of the doorways at the eastern end of the wing has converted to a window at an unknown date. Today the first floor porch has four doorways; two connecting interior rooms to the porch, one connecting the porch to the kitchen and one connecting the porch to the foyer. The one-story kitchen/dining room contains a set of four eighteen-light windows framed by a stone lintel. The heating and cooling unit for the first floor has been located outside of the house proper, and stands beside an eight-light window for the basement of the one-story kitchen/dining room.
Architectural investigations indicate that the one-story kitchen/dining room is an addition to the house. Outside, on the west facade, under the carport shed, can be seen a break line in the brick. The brick is slightly different on either side of this break line. Following the line upward, it goes over to meet the chimney forming a gable line. Inside, a large beam extends from the inside edge of the kitchen square to meet the main rear addition wall. Thus, indications are that the kitchen was originally detached and connected to the main house by a covered passageway. The kitchen, at an unknown later date, was incorporated into the main dormitory. These changes, according to interviews with the current owner, took place at least prior to 1905.
The north facade of the building is generally expressive of the classical order and symmetry often associated with the I-house form. There are six symmetrically placed twelve-light windows, each with a stone lintel on the two-story portion of the building. However, the eastermost windows are located underneath the the western end of the gable; the wing has two additional pairs of windows. The eaves show a decorative frieze and singular intricate double pendant brackets made of wood. The one-story kitchen/dining room contains two twelve-light windows. The north facade demonstrates that the brick work has been repointed in the twentieth century. According to the family, this brick work took place in 1924 when Dr. Adams acquired the property as his private home.
No major structural changes have been made to the interior of the house. Originally the first floor of the building contained a south parlor (today the living room), which featured a fireplace with wooden mantle; an entrance hall with a staircase leading to the second floor, a door to the front porch as well as a door to the rear; and a dining room, which featured a fireplace and wooden mantle identical to that of the south parlor, in the I-house portion. The wing had a bedroom (today the den), with separate outdoor entrance, a second bedroom (today the study), again with separate outdoor entrance, and the kitchen (today a breakfast room, kitchen and bathroom). Only the flooring on the south parlor, which had been heavily water damaged, is of recent origin. It was replaced in the early 1980's by owner David Arnold.
Otherwise, the hardwood floors of ash and poplar, wooden baseboards, and staircases of the first floor are original. The two staircases, in fact, are very similar. The staircase in the front hall is forty inches wide and has a simple round banister, square stair rails, and a turned baluster. The stair in the rear wing is thirty-six inches wide and has an octagonal banister, square stair rails, and a turned baluster. The baseboards are twelve inches high downstairs and six and one half inches in height on the second floor. The fireplaces are original and can be found in every room except the hallways and the back downstairs room. While the kitchen has a brick fireplace, the others have wooden mantels in a simple classical vernacular style. The mantels are identical except that the south parlor and dining room on the first floor contain a decorative beveled edge which the others lack. That the ore decorative mantles are located in the social/public sections of the dormitory is typical of that period.
Although the original use of these rooms is unknown, speculation can be made based on studies of similarly arranged buildings. The south parlor was probably a social/entertainment room where visitors could be met and entertained; student group activities could have also taken place in this room. The dining room was another social center within the house; communal dining for the students probably took place here. In all probability, the two bedrooms of the wing were reserved for students. The rooms share a chimney flue and both have identical wooden mantles over the fireplaces. The eastern most bedroom has a stairway that leads to the second floor, connecting this probable student area to the student area of the second floor wing. Otherwise, the upstairs wing does not connect the front portion of the house inside. The room contain large clothes cupboards. Measuring six feet eight inches in height by three feet in width and thirteen inches in depth, the cupboards retain their original wooden double doors and keyhole. Students were able to store their clothes and belongings in the cupboards, allowing more beds to be placed in each room due to the absence of chests of drawers and other furniture used for storing clothes.
The kitchen has always been located in the westernmost chamber of the first floor. Upon acquiring the house in 1924, Dr. Adams transformed a portion of the kitchen area into a bathroom; the remainder of this area the family used as a dining room. Today the current owners use this dining room area as a breakfast room. The kitchen is a square set into the right rear of the room; it has exposed brick walls. The kitchen and bath have an L-shaped area for dining and a door from the rear of the "L" leads to the shed-style carport.
Originally, the second floor had a large bedroom with fireplace and mantle, hall with staircase (today the upstairs foyer), and a second bedroom with fireplace and mantle in the I-house portion of the building. The wing originally contained two roughly equal bedrooms; the easternmost room contains a staircase to the first floor and the westernmost room has a doorway to the second floor porch. Both possess a fireplace and mantle and clothes cupboard. Today, the easternmost bedroom is a dressing room, while the western bedroom is the master bedroom. The exact use of these rooms in the past is unknown today, but, since each of the four bedrooms contains the identical type of clothes cupboards found in the first floor bedrooms (and the bedroom in the southern corner contains two such cupboards), it can be assumed that the entire second floor was reserved as sleeping quarters. In general, these rooms contain their original woodwork, fireplaces, mantles, and hardwood floors, and they retain all the original doorways of the building when it served as a dormitory. However, the current owners in 1984 transformed a portion of the bedroom in the northeastern corner into a bathroom.
Today the building displays layout characteristics, such as very limited access between the two wings and outside access for most rooms, that are common to a dormitory. These characteristics have been largely retained, although they are inconvenient for a private residence. Due to the many original outside doors, the original clothes cupboards found in every room except for the parlor, dining room, and kitchen of the first floor, and the layout of the rooms, the building has the feel and appearance of a dormitory. Despite its use a s a private residence for over sixty years. The building retains a high degree of architectural integrity.