Belmont University

Belmont University sits on 75 historic acres two miles southwest of downtown Nashville, Tenn., a thriving metropolis known worldwide as Music City USA. In the mid-1800s, the land the university now occupies was known as the Belle Monte estate, the Victorian home of one of
Tennessee’s wealthiest couples, Joseph and Adelicia Acklen. Their antebellum Belmont Mansion remains today, flanked by university buildings separated in age by more than a century.

The first educational institution on the estate was the original Belmont College (1890-1913), offering elementary school through junior college education to young ladies. The school merged with Ward Seminary to become the prestigious Ward-Belmont School for Women (1913-1951),
and in 1951, with the support of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, the school became the coed Belmont College. Since becoming Belmont University in 1991, Belmont has grown not only in size but in quality. The mansions, gardens and statues of Belmont's historic past now sit side-by-side with state-of-the-art facilities

equipped with the best technology and teachers to educate today's students with the right tools for real world success.

The various figures of limbless humans

or assorted wildlife around campus actually date to the property's historic origins. The Belmont Mansion, which now holds an honored position at the center of the campus. Adelicia was a traveler and antique hunter of some notoriety and brought many of the trinkets, both great and small, from her European expeditions back to the home at Belmont. The statues

strewn about the lawn are part of her collection, resting undisturbed here for decades (though they occasionally are victimized by vandals.) In addition, the gardens contain the largest collection of 19th century cast iron garden ornaments in the United States, including five cast iron gazebos.