Hendersonville, Louisville & Nashville Railroad Depot

The railroad's loyalties followed its business. At the start of the war the L&N's president, James Guthrie, spoke out in defense of the South, and the line carried vital supplies for the Confederate army. When trade with the Confederacy was banned, the company cut its southern shipments and shifted its support to the Union. Over the war, different parts of its network were pressed into service by both armies, and wear, battle and sabotage did considerable damage. The L&N still came out of the war in comparatively stable physical and economic condition.

What the plaque says

Hendersonville, Louisville & Nashville Railroad Depot At this site was the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Depot, located 170 miles from Louisville, Kentucky, and 18 miles from Nashville. The railroad extended for 269 miles of track in 1860, and was of vital strategic importance to both sides during the Civil War. It changed hands multiple times and was damaged and rebuilt. The course of the war in the West was impacted by this strategic supply artery connecting the Midwest to the South. A Confederate soldier was killed during a skirmish here with Union soldiers on Nov. 15, 1864.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Andrew Jackson's Hermitage — 6.5 mi
  Andrew Jackson's cotton plantation east of Nashville, where visitors can walk to the quarters, Alfred's Cabin and the Enslaved Cemetery as well as the mansion.
• Tennessee State Capitol — 13 mi
  William Strickland's Greek Revival capitol on Nashville's Capitol Hill, finished in 1859 and built from the bottom up with the labor of enslaved men.
• Ryman Auditorium — 13 mi
  The 1892 brick tabernacle in downtown Nashville that was the Grand Ole Opry's home from 1943 to 1974, now a National Historic Landmark and working concert hall.
• National Museum of African American Music — 14 mi
  A downtown Nashville museum, opened in 2021, tracing gospel, blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and hip-hop through Black history from 1619 to 2016.

More markers nearby

• William Henderson — 0.3 mi
• Rock Castle — 0.8 mi
• Free Hill Road — 1.6 mi
• The Cash Home — 3.7 mi