County of district: Giles County
Location of district" Sam Davis Ave. & E. Madison St., Pulaski
Created: 1989
The Sam Davis Avenue Historic District in Pulaski (pop. 7,195), Tennessee,
is comprised of twenty-four primarily residential structures and their
dependencies in a three block strip along South Sam Davis Avenue from
College Street (U.S. Highway 64) to East Madison Street. It also extends
on East Madison Street for a short distance either side of South Sam Davis
Avenue. The district contains residential structures that are ornamented
with elements of Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Bungalow, Classical Revival,
and Craftsman designs from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
"Sam Davis Avenue, named for a Confederate hero, was known as Farm Lane at
the time of Davis' execution in 1863. One house remains from this period,
the 1858 Vaughn-Stacy House at 111 South Sam Davis Avenue (#13). Development of other lots occurred before 1878, when a tax map shows six houses
and Giles College, a large brick school building, on the street. East
Madison Street, the second street in the district, was an extension of a
street laid out in the city's original grid plan dating from the 1810s.
However, most buildings on the section of the street in the district date
from the late nineteenth century.
"The remaining buildings in the district were erected in the late nineteenth
or early twentieth century. A small residential health care facility, a
tiny museum, and five houses are the only buildings less than fifty years
old.
A number of architectural styles are represented in the district. The
oldest house is the aforementioned Vaughn-Stacy House (#13). The one story
frame house is one of Pulaski's best examples of Greek Revival architecture. Laid out on a cross-axial plan, the house features two pedimented
porticos, a raised stone foundation, bracketed entablature, and corbeled
brick chimneys.
"The next houses date from the period after the Civil War. One of the most
notable of these is located at 441 East Madison Street (#9). This house has
a pressed tin mansard roof with projecting wall dormers, round arch
windows, and a wraparound veranda. It is one of the very few Second Empire
influenced houses in the region.
"Of the thirty-two resources in the district, twenty-five are listed in the
accompanying inventory as contributing (C) to the historic architectural
character of the neighborhood. These include residences, a dependency, two
gazebos, a well house, and two outbuildings. The remaining seven resources
are listed as non-contributing (NC). These resources are either less than
fifty years old or have been altered to the point they no longer retain
their historical integrity. Non-contributing resources are three residences, a small residential health care facility, a garage, an outbuilding,
and the Sam Davis Memorial. Residences that have no recognizable architectural style or influence are classified by their overall plans or forms
(i.e., central passage)." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
Marker at Museum:
Marker Text:
SAM DAVIS AVENUE
HISTORIC DISTRICT
Tracing the original eastern city boundary and the Congressional Reservation Line once dividing white and Indian territory . Sam Davis Avenue is named for a Confederate hero hanged by Federals on this hill in 1863. The Historic District, placed on the National Register in 1989, contains outstanding architecture of the 1860~1910 period.