Bells Bend For B (just across the Cumberland River from me!

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Quite A Bit Of History -
Originally known as White’s Bend, after a 1789 3840-acre Revolutionary War land grant to James White, the area became known as Bells Bend when Montgomery Bell, a wealthy iron producer, bought more than 6000 acres, which were subsequently divided and sold. Hydes Ferry Turnpike connected the Bend to Nashville (now paralleled by Highway 12), and Tom Scott’s original store was near the intersection of Sulphur Creek, Bells Bend Road (now Old Hickory Blvd), and Hydes Ferry, and gave the name Scottsboro to the small community at the crossroads.
David Lipscomb, preacher, editor, and founder of the Church of Christ, built a log cabin on his property in McCord Hollow. He went on to found the Nashville Bible School, which became Lipscomb University. Lipscomb’s log house and property were bought by the McCord family. Young George Graves, coming out to the Bend to preach his first sermon, met Katherine, one of the McCord daughters, and the couple soon married and, after a few years away, returned to the farm. Mr. Graves headed the Bells Bend Church of Christ for many years.
His son, George W. Graves Jr., married Ann Walker, a neighbor, and raised 13 children in the old Lipscomb house, several of whom still live on the home property, raising gardens, corn, hay, and cattle. Jerry Graves manages a large sod farm in the Bend, and Eddie and his sons have a well-equipped yard maintenance business. The Clees brothers, seven Bavarian emigrants, moved to the bend in 1869, starting a farm and timber and sawmill business. They also established the ferry in the 1880’s, which continued to carry people, produce and cars across the river until the Judge Hickman, the last 8-car ferry, was shut down in 1990. The landing is still used for launching boats and is often known as “Cleece’s Ferry”, a popular misspelling of the original name. The Barnes family has also lived in the Bend since the mid-1870’s, and have extended family still in the area. Wesley Barnes, now in his 80’s, built many of the barns and fences in northwest Davidson county, and is well-known for the fine quality of his work. The Buchanans were another large landowning family, who successfully farmed about 2000 acres and ran crews that operated their threshing machines throughout the county. The Buchanan property was eventually sold to Eastman Kodak and was the site for the defeated dump/landfill proposal. It is now Bells Bend Park (the sign in the picture).