A snippet from, Nashville and Her Trade, 1870, Charles E. Robert
Across the river, to the north, is the city of Edgefield,
or, as it is sometimes called, "Little Brooklyn." Edgefield is an
incorporated city, and is about one and a quarter miles long, and nearly the
same in width. It is, perhaps, one of the loveliest resident places in the
South, or in the United States, for that matter; and during the Spring and hot
Summer months, is a pleasant retreat for the business man, whose labors and
interests lay in Nashville. It is connected with the city by a magnificent wire
Suspension Bridge; by a splendid iron bridge, of the Fink Truss patent,
belonging to the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, and by ferries,
both at the Upper and Lower Levees. Edgefield is remarkable for the elegance
and taste of its buildings, the spaciousness of its avenues, and the
intelligence and refinement of its people. Its population, for the most part,
is resident, a large number of people doing business in the city having their
residences there. Property, consequent upon the large influx of population that
Nashville has received in the past few years, has so increased in value, that
space has become a costly luxury, only to be enjoyed by the more extravagant.
In fact, the many persons who constitute a moving power, and a large proportion
of our commercial world, are compelled to seek homes in this and the many
suburban towns that cluster around the metropolis, and are vitalized by its
proximity. Therefore, the daily emigration and exodus is large.
