Westview/ Walton-Brown Home originally had 200 acres and was located at 1508 Dickerson Pike.
In 1850, Capt. William Bowen Walton (1824-1908) and Sallie Humphrey Walton (1830-1860) resided at the property in a 2 story home. [Walton’s second wife was Mary Emily Donelson Walton (1837-1936). Her parents were Stockley and Phila Ann Donelson of Cleveland Hall.] Walton’s grandfather, William Walton founded Carthage, TN. Capt. Walton was an officer in “Bloody First” regiment which fought in the Mexican-American War.
Then William Francis (W. F.) Bang (1810-1892) and Jane Rebecca McJilton Bang (1813-1888) owned the home. W.F. was a master printer, publisher and proprietor of W.F. Bang & Co. in Nashville and owned and published the Republican Banner (aka Daily Republican Banner, Republican Banner and Whig) from 1854-1875. The publisher’s office was at 9 and 11 Deaderick St.
After W.F. died, son William Francis (W.F.) Bang, Jr. and wife Mary Phillips Bang (1849-1928) inherited the property. They sold it to son-in-law Claude Parke Street, Sr. (1865-1924) and daughter, Lillian Bang Street (1882-1966) in 1894. [Claude’s first wife was Kate G. Dorman Street - 1864-1903. Claude owned Claude P. Street Pian Co. At that point, the Walton-Brown plantation property stretched from Dickerson Pike to Brick Church Pike. A decade later, in 1904, Street sold the property and its 40 acres to Bessie Thompson Brown (1847-1905), widow of John Preston Watts (JPW) Brown (1845-1896).
Their son, John Preston Watts (J.P.W.) Brown (1874-1939) and his wife, Anne “Nannie” Crockett Brown (1875-1956) inherited the house and land and it remained in the Brown family through the mid 1950s. They also named it Westview after the antebellum mansion in Triune of Samuel F. Perkins where Anne was raised. She was the daughter of Robert P. and Mary W. Crockett of Westview. J.P.W. was an engineer and had risen to chief electrical inspector at the end of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. In 1898 he joined Cumberland Electric Light and Power Co. J.P.W. was a prominent businessman in the utilities industry. He was general manager for Tennessee Power and Light. He had a “summer home” built at Rock Island called Dam View. In 1914, he became assistant general superintendent of Nashville Railway and Light Co.(NR&L) In 1925, he was vice president/ general manager and board member of (NR&L). In 1924, one article noted JPW was elected “Nashville’s most valuable citizen” as vice president of the Tennessee Electric Power Co. J.P.W. was a member of the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust, president of the YMCA (1919-21), and president of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce. J.P.W. died of a stroke in 1939.
Their son, William “Bill” Bailey Brown moved to Westview with his wife Harriett Hoffman Brown. In 1950, the Brown family had one of the few swimming pools in the city. Bill was a General Shoe executive (later Genesco).
In 1953, the estate of J.P.W. Brown III sold Westview and its 60 acres to Dickerson Co. The Brown family moved to a home on Franklin Rd. Annie ended up living on Ensworth Ave. where she died. Soon Westview was razed. A “modern” trailer park was built and now the place is called Shady Hills. In the 1960s, a large portion of the former Westview property on the western edge was taken for the construction of Interstate 24. I-24 runs just to the east of Brick Church Pike. See Cleveland Hall, Westview (Williamson Co.)
[The Thomas Talbot farm stretched 290 acres from Dickerson Rd. across Brick Church Pike to the Cumberland River on the southern end and north to Brick Church Pike and West Trinity Lane in the 1790s to early 1800s. Thomas Talbot (1760-1831) and Ruth Greer Talbot (1768-1819) built their spacious mansion on a hill near the intersection of Dickerson Rd. and East Trinity Lane. The area remains known as Talbott’s Corner. After Thomas’ death, the southern portion was sold to Capt. Walton and subsequently to the J.P.W. Brown family.]
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