When you live here at the Big South Fork, it's inevitable that you will be going to Nashville at some point, for one reason or another. You may want to take a drive through the campus of Vanderbilt University, known as "The Harvard of The South."
Vanderbilt was founded in 1873 with a million-dollar endowment from "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, a New York entrepreneur who made his fortune in shipping and, later, in railroads. Although he was, at the time of his death, the wealthiest man in America, he is not a noted philanthropist. He initially intended to locate the university named in his honor on Staten Island where he was born and eventually buried. Instead, in choosing Tennessee, although he himself had never been to the south, Vanderbilt intended that his gift would help to heal the deep division caused by the Civil War.
Today, Vanderbilt is ranked 17th among colleges in the United States with four undergraduate schools and six graduate schools. Vanderbilt admissions are highly selective; in 2010, only 16.3% of undergraduate applicants were accepted. There are approximately 12,000 students on the 330-acre campus, located only a mile and a half from downtown Nashville.
The oldest part of the Vanderbilt campus is known for its abundance of green space and was designated a national arboretum in 1988, with over 300 species of trees and shrubs including one of every specie of tree that is indigenous to the state of Tennessee.
Vanderbilt is the largest private employer in Middle Tennessee and the state's second-largest employer overall, after FedEx.
The Vanderbilt University Medical Center is the only Level I Trauma Center in Middle Tennessee.
Vanderbilt's athletic teams are are called the Commodores in honor of the university's benefactor.
I'm proud to say that I hold a postgraduate degree from Vanderbilt, although my coursework was completed through the overseas program, thanks to the G.I. Bill, while I was an Air Force officer stationed at RAF Alconbury and I have only just now begun to appreciate my alma mater's magnificent campus.
For information about Big South Fork real estate or horse properties in Jamestown, Tennessee, go to www.trailridersrealestate.com
There's also a lot of information about the area on Tennessee Recreational Properties' website.
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