1859 Italianate antebellum house built for David H. McGavock between the Stones and Cumberland rivers, used during the Civil War for emergency burials and now operated by Metro Nashville as a historic site and event venue.
3130 McGavock Pike, Nashville, TN 37214
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Grounds free and open to the public; mansion access via scheduled tours or rented events.
Access
Limited Access
Original 1859 stairs and floors in the mansion; flat lawn around the building
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1859 · National Register of Historic Places · Civil War emergency burial site · Best-preserved Italianate antebellum house in Middle Tennessee · McGavock-Harding family seat
Construction on Two Rivers began in 1859 for David H. McGavock (1826–1896) and Willie Elizabeth Harding (1832–1895), whose family operated Belle Meade plantation. The Italianate brick house — among the latest large antebellum country residences built in the Nashville area and one of the best-preserved Italianate houses in Middle Tennessee — was not fully completed until the early 1870s due to the disruptions of the Civil War.
The original plantation extended across approximately 1,100 acres between the Stones and Cumberland rivers, the geographic feature that gave the property its name. The McGavocks held enslaved people on the property in the antebellum period; the family's wealth derived in part from this labor and from the Harding family's Belle Meade interests.
During the December 1864 Battle of Nashville and its aftermath, the property was used for emergency burials of Union and Confederate dead when established Nashville-area cemeteries reached capacity. According to the Friends of Two Rivers historical record, at least 100 Native American remains were also documented on the property in later archaeological work, predating the McGavock occupation.
Three generations of McGavocks lived at Two Rivers continuously through 1965, when the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County purchased the property from Mary Louise Bransford McGavock. Metro Nashville Parks operates the site today as a historic property and event venue, with the surrounding land now home to Two Rivers Golf Course, Wave Country, and other Metro Parks facilities. Two Rivers Mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sources
According to nashvilleghosts.com and Ghost City Tours, paranormal reports at Two Rivers are attributed by tour operators to two overlapping populations: deceased McGavock family members who lived continuously on the property for three generations, and the Civil War dead buried temporarily on the grounds during the December 1864 Battle of Nashville emergency.
Witnesses described in the WKRN 'Spirits of the past linger at Two Rivers Mansion' feature report disembodied footsteps in empty rooms, doors that lock or unlock without a present occupant, and flickering lights. A 'Lady in Black' shadow figure is the most-cited apparition, seen both inside the mansion and on the adjacent Two Rivers Golf Course, which occupies former plantation grounds.
A ghostly dog has also been reported running with guests on the grounds, according to nashvilleghosts.com. Reports are anecdotal and primarily transmitted through ghost-tour operators and a single local-news feature; no published parapsychological investigation has produced corroborated specific evidence.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Scheduled guided tour of the 1859 Italianate house built for David H. McGavock and Willie Elizabeth Harding McGavock, focused on the McGavock family's three generations of occupancy and the property's role in the December 1864 Battle of Nashville.
Self-guided walk of the surviving grounds, which adjoin the Two Rivers Park and Golf Course on the former 1,100-acre plantation.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Indianapolis, IN
Hannah House is an 1858 Italianate mansion at 3801 Madison Avenue on the south side of Indianapolis, built by Alexander Hannah, an Indiana businessman who returned wealthy from the California Gold Rush. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Franklin, TN
Carnton Mansion, built in 1826 in Franklin, Tennessee, served as the largest temporary Confederate field hospital after the November 30, 1864, Battle of Franklin. Roughly 300 wounded soldiers were treated inside the house in a single night, with four Confederate generals' bodies laid out on the back porch the following morning. This record duplicates the canonical Carnton entry.
Charles City, VA
Benjamin Harrison IV built the current mansion at Berkeley Plantation in 1726, making it the oldest three-story brick structure in Virginia. The plantation became the birthplace of President William Henry Harrison in 1773 and the ancestral seat of a family that produced a signer of the Declaration of Independence and two U.S. Presidents. During the Civil War, General McClellan used the mansion as his headquarters and the cellar held Confederate prisoners.