The West End Home Foundation recently was pleased to announce the dedication of a historical marker to pay tribute to the Old Woman’s Home, a Nashville institution founded in 1891. A dedication ceremony took place on Monday, November 5. The program included remarks made by Mayor Briley, Jim Forkum, Chairperson of the Historical Commission, and the daughter of a former resident of the home.
The Old Woman’s Home was founded in 1891 for the “care of aged and helpless women who were unable to work and who were without means of support”. In 1909, the “inmates” (as the residents were called), were taken on horse drawn carriages from a small home in downtown Nashville to a grand new red brick, columned home at 2817 West End Avenue. This beautiful new facility was home to hundreds of women for seventy-five years. The home was demolished in 1984 to make room for new development, Park Place Plaza, along one of the city’s busiest corridors. A new home, by then renamed the West End Home for Ladies, was built directly behind Park Place Plaza on Vanderbilt Place where women were provided residential care until 2009. That home is now a dormitory for Vanderbilt students.
Today The West End Home Foundation continues its 125-year legacy of caring as a charitable foundation whose mission is “to enrich the lives of older adults through grantmaking, advocacy and community collaboration”. In 2018, the Foundation is providing nearly $1.7 million in grants to nonprofit agencies that serve older adults throughout Middle Tennessee. (Original Story)
