The log building on our grounds has been around since before the Civil War, and has been a store, wagon-making shop, and was originally a blacksmith shop known as Owen’s Blacksmith Shop.  The Owens were a prominent family; still standing landmarks include the Owen-Primm house on Moore’s Lane, and the Owen Cemetery on Wilson Pike. Dr. Jabez Owen was a physician and planter who owned hundreds of acres in the area. 

The corner of Concord Road and Wilson Pike used to be called Owen’s Crossroads, an area mentioned several times in documentation of the Civil War where there was considerable troop movements and foraging activities including the December 1, 1864 engagement between Confederate General Forest and Union General J. H. Wilson. This was also the day Union General John Schofield's army evacuated from Franklin and retreated to Nashville.

One of the most intriguing stories about the building: on November 4, 1874, when the building was a wagon-maker’s shop, John Edmundson (married to Martha Virginia Owen, daughter of Dr. Jabez Owen) was killed in a dispute which escalated with an employee of the shop.  Edmundson, who was 48 at the time of his death, was a prominent citizen from one of the founding families of the area; Edmundson Pike was named for them.

It is believed that this building was originally west of this location in what is now the Brentmeade subdivision and was moved to this location, most likely in the early to mid-1900s.

Today the barn is used for church events, hosts a Boy Scout troop, and is available for rental.