Trousdale Place is a handsome Federal style two-story brick house nestled in the heart of busy downtown Gallatin, Tennessee. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as well as the Tennessee Civil War Trail.
For military service during the Revolutionary War, Captain James Trousdale, Governor William Trousdale's father, received land grant #1 from the State of North Carolina. The grant was for 640 acres upon which the city of Gallatin is located.
On November 6th 1801, by an act of the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, appointed commissioners to purchase 40 acres of land to layout a town which would be named after Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In February 1802, 42 1/2 acres were purchased from Captain James Trousdale in the amount of $490. The purchase included 40 acres for the town, 1 1/2 acres for the courthouse square and 1 acre was reserved for the grantor, James Trousdale. The 1 acre contained the Trousdale cabin located off the south-side of the square, not to be confused with Trousdale Place.
The county court met at the Trousdale cabin prior to the completion of the courthouse in 1803.
The house now known as Trousdale Place is located two city blocks west of the Gallatin Public Square. This home was built circa 1813 by John H. Bowen, a local attorney and member of Congress. Bowen died in 1822, and the house was acquired by William P. Rowles, the Superintendent of the Gallatin Female Academy and a Methodist clergyman. In 1836, William Trousdale purchased the house and the family lived there until 1900.
