Pontotoc along with Wyatt Hall had consistent Methodist Church ownership and ties.
The East Nashville mansion was constructed by the 1840s at 2000 Greenwood Ave near Scott Avenue in East Nashville. The first owner was Dr. Albert Henry (A.H.) Redford (1818-1884). Dr. Redford was a Methodist minister and chronicler of Methodist Church history.
It was bought by Joseph Horton Fall (1848-1925) and Margaret Evans Fall (1851-1911) by the late 1870s. They married in 1873. He owned a prosperous hardware business. The Fall family had moved by 1885 to Seventh Ave. in downtown.
Later their daughter, Willie Evans Fall Early (1878-1970), and her husband John Early (1868-1934) bought the property. John was affiliated with the Methodist Book Publishing Co. He later owned Early-Cain Saddle Manufactory Company, a harness manufacturer and seller of horse goods, which operated from 315 North Market St. The Pontotoc estate encompassed 35 acres. The estate was large enough to hold orchards, and corn and wheat fields as well as Jersey cows, hogs and thoroughbred horses. About 1900, one of his stallions, Emperor, held the American pacing record.
In Ridley Wills’ Nashville Pikes Vol. 6 on Gallatin Pike homes, he notes a memory by Early’s daughter Margaret. Margaret’s teacher told the local children to go home as fast as they could, and as Margaret was bicycling home through blowing smoke and cinder she realized that the Great Fire of 1916 which burned much of East Nashville was starting. Margaret later owned Wyatt Hall in Brentwood. By the late 1920s with Nashville growing, the City of Nashville requested that the Early family sell the Pontotoc property to build a new school.
When that arrangement was agreed upon, Pontotoc was torn down to construct Bailey School (1920s - 2018). The government also sold off portions of the estate over the course of time. The name Pontotoc is a Native American name meaning “vine.” The home was so named because it sat on an old Native American trail that led to sulphur springs where Sulphur Dell Park was located. The area has street names of Fall, Early and Pontotoc as a reminder of who once lived there. See Wyatt Hall
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