MHC News
The next Historical Commission public meeting will be held on Monday, September 16 at 12:00 p.m. at the Sonny West Conference Room, Howard Office Building, 700 President Ronald Reagan Way. You can find a full list of upcoming and previous MHC meetings on our website.
We are excited to announce several upcoming marker ceremonies this month. On Friday, September 20 at 6:00 pm, the Jackie Shane historical marker will be dedicated at 2601 Jefferson Street. Learn more at the Facebook event page. There will also be a film screening and panel discussion of the documentary Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story on Saturday, September 21 Ford Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The Stratford High School historical marker will be dedicated on Friday, September 27 at 5:30 pm immediately before the homecoming football tailgate and game. The marker will be located at 1800 Stratford Ave. Finally, on Saturday, September 28 the Joseph Yusef Harris historical marker will be dedicated in front of Alkebu-Lan Images at 2721 Jefferson Street. Stay tuned to our social media for more details.
A number of damaged markers have recently been replaced including WDAD/Berger Building (164 Rosa Parks Blvd) and Old Hickory Powder Plant (899 Burnett Road). Markers in McCabe Park and Ravenwood Park will also be re-located to new areas of the parks soon. If you know of a damaged marker that needs to be replaced, please email jessica.reeves@nashville.gov.
Construction has largely concluded at Sunnyside, with only minor interior projects to complete along with the exterior/ landscaping projects. We are working with the Master Gardeners of Davidson County, which will include design and planting of the site’s landscaping with heirloom plants, a maintenance landscape plan, and creation of a demonstration garden behind the log outbuilding. MGDC hopes to partner with the new restaurant/café that will be located in the carriage house and grow herbs and vegetables that might be utilized by the establishment. MGDC will also be working with the office to create educational materials related to their work at Sunnyside. MHC staff also continue to work on two new interpretive panels to be installed in the park, as well as printed brochures about the history of Sunnyside and the artifact wall in the lobby, and a children's activity book for the site.
Work on the log outbuilding continues. The synthetic glass view window will be installed soon, and the floors can be stained and sealed after that. Once the building is completed, it will be open to the public and will contain multiple interpretive panels about people enslaved at Sunnyside and the archaeological work that has taken place at the site.
We are also moving forward with plans to complete the summer house/ architectural folly later this month. James Dunn of Vintage Millworks has final architectural plans in hand and is scheduled to construct the structure with volunteer labor on the last two weekend of September. Costs for this project are being shared by the Friends of Sevier Park, 12 South Neighborhood Association, Preservation Society of Nashville, and the MHC Foundation.
Work at the Nashville City Cemetery to repair broken markers in Sections 1 through 12 will be complete by the first week of September, with additional repair work funded by the NCCA on the way. To the left, a before and after of 2 markers that were repaired. Note that they have not yet been cleaned.
You can also now purchase tickets for the NCCA October Murder & Mystery Lantern tours. Tours will be offered on October 12, 19, and 26.
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MHZC News
The MHZC’s next public hearing will be held on Wednesday, September 18 at 2:00 p.m. at the Sonny West Conference Center, Howard Office Building, 700 President Ronald Regan Way. View the MHZC meeting schedule and application deadlines on our website. Access archived videos of the MHZC meetings on the Metro YouTube channel anytime!
The Citizen Historic Preservation Academy application deadline for the 2024 course has been extended to September 13. Sessions begin on September 23 and will end on November 13, with a social event hosted by the Preservation Society of Nashville. The Citizen’s Historic Preservation Academy is an opportunity for Nashville residents to learn how they can participate in local preservation and the related benefits and resources. The Academy will meet at historic Metro sites and the last session will be a social hosted by the Preservation Society of Nashville. Class size is limited to 12, and the selection process is competitive. Participants must submit a letter of recommendation from their Council Member or neighborhood/merchant association. Students submitting an application can provide a letter of recommendation from a teacher.
Thank you to Bob Henderson with 360 Virtual Tours for a donation of digital aerials of the Stinson Aircraft Co/Vultee aircraft factory and 105th Hangers 1 and 2 and for capturing 360 photographs of two buildings, including the administration building, that will likely be demolished in the spring. This collection and documentation will be a great resource for our department and document a site that will soon be lost. We are grateful for the access the buyer was able to obtain for us to accomplish the documentation. Unfortunately, the historic administration building, with art deco details, is beyond repair and the site is a brownfield making it a poor candidate for a new type of use. The current buyers are still in the due-diligence stage but hope to fund a historical marker, if the sale is completed. Following is an excerpt from Historic Nashville, Inc.’s 2016 Facebook posting about Vultee.
The 97-acre site includes a 2.2 million-square foot factory that traces its roots to 1939 when it was built for Stinson Aircraft Co. The original 1939 Stinson aircraft plant was designed by internationally renowned industrial architect Albert Kahn (1869-1942), sometimes known as the "architect of Detroit." During World War II, the Vultee plant manufactured military fighter planes such as the Vultee A-31 Vengeance dive bomber. Many of the workers were women, who were real life examples of Rosie the Riveters.
MHC Archaeology Day in Tennessee Archaeology Awareness Month
Saturday, September 7 9:00am-1:00pm
Join Metro Historical Commission archaeologist Dr. Adam Fracchia for an exciting day learning about archaeology in Nashville and the recent excavation around Sunnyside in Sevier Park.
- Participate in an Excavation at Sunnyside
- Learn about Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
- Try your hand at activities like throwing an atlatl or mending ceramics
- Take a tour of the newly renovated historic Sunnyside Mansion
No reservations or RSVPs needed! This free event is open to all. Parking is available in the MHC lot at the Kirkwood entrance to Sevier Park.
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Nashville Sites tour-Archaeological Tour of Indigenous Nashville
We are involved in several exciting archaeological projects currently. One of these is an Archaeological Tour of Indigenous Nashville to be hosted on Nashville Sites. Graduate students in the History Department at Middle Tennessee State University helped to design a tour of important Indigenous archaeological sites in Davidson County. The goal of the tour is to educate and build awareness of these amazing places and history. The tour details sites from the Paleo, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods from across Nashville.
Each tour stop will have a brief narrative of each archaeological site as well as images, including photographs of artifacts and excavations. Additionally, the tour will include illustrations of each of the sites as they may have looked when they were originally occupied. Augmented reality models of some of these locations will allow the visitor to better visualize these places by superimposing homes and mounds back on the landscape.
 On the left: A proposed augmented reality model of the Mississippian village at Travellers Rest. On the right: an artistic interpretation of a fishweir on the Stones River.
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September Mystery Object
In the archaeology lab, not every artifact is easily identifiable. We often spend a great deal of time cleaning them off and piecing them together before we try to look for examples of what they could be.
Unfortunately, no one was able to identify August’s object. This month we are trying to determine what this thin iron object could be. It resembles an “S” and was found near artifacts dating to the Civil War.
If you know or have a guess, please email adam.fracchia@nashville.gov.
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In early August, Davidson County gained two new National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) listings, both of which are located in North Nashville. Clark Memorial Methodist Church Complex (1014 14th Avenue North and 1218–1220 Phillips Street) includes an English Gothic Revival-style church (1945), a Ranch-style parsonage (1957), and the Colonial Revival-style Walker House (1941). The church holds significant associations with two activist-leaders in Nashville’s Civil Rights Movement—Rev. James M. Lawson, Jr., who led numerous nonviolent, direct-action training workshops in the church (1958-1959), as well as Dr. Charles J. Walker, a physician at nearby Meharry Medical College. Between 1945 and 1964, the Clark Complex hosted training workshops, community meetings, conferences, fundraising, and other imperative events associated with Nashville’s Civil Rights Movement.
First Community Church (1815 Knowles Avenue) also received this honorary designation. The church is important as a community center, particularly during the Nashville Student Movement, and for its association with prominent civil rights activist Rev. C. T. Vivian. This was also the home church of JohnEtta Hayes, the Nashville NAACP branch’s first female president who also served in leadership roles with the Nashville Christian Leadership Council (NCLC) and the Executive Council of Highlander Folk School, a civil rights training center located in Monteagle, Tennessee. While the church had been active in community outreach since its establishment, between 1957 and 1969 it hosted community and NCLC meetings (focused on civil rights, voter registration, and race relations) and served as one of the Nashville Student Movement “strategy centers.”
Both listings relate to their cover document, a 205-page historical context entitled, The Civil Rights Movement in Nashville, Tennessee, 1942–1969. The historical context documentation provides an overview of Nashville’s broader civil rights history during these pivotal years and provides a framework that will enable additional buildings and sites to be listed in the NRHP. Several property types were documented during the course of research and public engagement, including religious, educational, commercial, and government facilities, residential properties, and march routes—all of which were further defined as strategy centers, conflict centers, or properties associated with prominent persons. For more information on the project findings, check out the final public presentation. You can download the MPDF and both nominations at the links below.
Civil Rights Movement National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF)
Clark Memorial Methodist Church Complex National Register of Historic Places nomination
First Community Church National Register of Historic Places nomination
The Metro Historical Commission is fortunate to have numerous partners in preservation. In this new series, we want to spotlight these partners and the great work they have done over the years. We will start this month with Historic Nashville, Inc.
Historic Nashville, Inc. (HNI) is a nonprofit membership organization that promotes and preserves the historic places that make Nashville unique. Since its establishment in 1968 and working together with the MHC, HNI has successfully advocated for the preservation of historic places such as the Ryman Auditorium, Union Station, Hermitage Hotel, Second Avenue, Lower Broadway, Shelby Street Bridge, and Fort Negley, as well as neighborhood historic districts throughout the city.
HNI also ensures the preservation of over 25 historic properties through its Preservation Easements program, which protects buildings in perpetuity.
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In addition to this advocacy work, HNI hosts frequent Happy Hours at historic bars and restaurants and Behind the Scenes tours for members at a variety of historic locations. Recent locations including Union Station, Grassmere Manor, the Hermitage Hotel, and Glen Leven. The next tour is coming up on September 7 at Bicentennial Mall. Tours are only open to members, but you can become a member at any time! One of the highest profile programs of HNI is the "Nashville Nine," a program that identifies and raises awareness of vulnerable properties across Nashville each May (National Historic Preservation Month). Thank you HNI for your tireless work over the past 56 years; we are proud to be your Partner in Preservation! |
HistoriCorps is committed to educating and training volunteers in preservation skills, with an overarching mission of inspiring a preservation ethic in all those involved. This September, they will be hosting multiple work sessions at the Homeplace Tool Barn at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. The majority of HistoriCorps projects are typically held in the western US, so we are excited to have this program so close to home and hope many Nashville preservationists will be able to attend. This is part of a larger project restoring the Homeplace 1850s Working Farm.
Volunteering with HistoriCorps is free, and all meals, tools, trainings, and campsite will be provided. Participants should bring their own sturdy work clothes/boots and gloves. See the HistoriCorps websiteto learn more about this project and how to get involved!
The Tennessee Wars Commission, the Tennessee Historical Commission division responsible for preserving the state’s significant military history, has announced the 2024-2025 grant cycle. Applications will be accepted from September 2-November 15.
The Wars Commission Grant Fund provides financial support to coordinate the planning, preservation, protection, promotion, and interpretation of structures, buildings, sites, and battlefields related to Tennessee’s military heritage. Example projects include, but are not limited to, archaeological surveys and excavations, cemetery preservation, contraband camp preservation and interpretation, graphic displays and interpretative panels, historic markers, and living history and educational programs.
Since 1994, this grant program has funded approximately one hundred twenty-four different projects preserving and interpreting the military legacy of Tennessee and Tennesseans.
Parthenon Architecture tours and Museum tours, and Centennial Park History tours are available weekly at Centennial Park.
Celebrate Tennessee Archaeology Month at Bells Bend Park. The month kicks off with Stratigraphy for Beginners at on September 7 with Zoe Williams. Then learn about the First Tennesseans from the Paleo to the Mississippian cultures on September 14. Learn more about dendrochronology, or tree-ring dating, with Krista Allen on September 20. The month-long celebration culminates as Bells Bend Park will once again host TCPA Archaeology Day as part of Tennessee Archaeology Awareness Month on September 21.
Enjoy guided walking tours of Fort Negley park on September 5 and 7. The Nashville chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society will also meet at Fort Negley Park on September 7. On September 17, hear from Mayor Freddie O'Connell at the Nashville History Club as he discusses "How Nashville Moves, Works, and Grows: Then and Now. Later that day, "Dr. Lucas Wilder, Lincoln Memorial University, will present this month's topic at the Nashville Civil War Roundtable: the Cumberland Gap in the Civil War. On September 24, Buddy Caldwell will present "Reliving the Donelson/Robinson Flatboat Journey" at the Nashville History Club meeting. Later that day, the Fort Donelson Camp No. 62, Sons of Union Veterans will host their monthly meeting. Dr. Margaret Washington, Marie Underhill Noll Professor of American History, Emerita at Cornell University, will present ‘Ain’t Gon’ Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round’ Black and White Women and the Underground Rail Road on September 28.
Free admission for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) students, staff, and faculty--and their entire families--is available on MNPS STEAM Night at the Parthenon in Centennial Park on September 10.
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a vibrant new community celebration--CreARTe Fest at Centennial Park on September 22.
The Parthenon and Metro Arts are teaming up for an evening of connection on September 26 for Current Classics: Conversations about Art with Artists.
Join life-long Bells Bend resident and Friends of Bells Bend Park's president, Sharon Work, for a hike focusing on the cultural history of Bells Bend and the birth of the park on September 28.
Enjoy the Kidsville Family Festival at Centennial Park on September 28.
The Main Branch is closed for maintenance this month, and they hope to re-open in early October.
Join Leslie Gossett to explore the world of edible and medicinal plants at the Green Hills branch on September 3.
On the first Tuesday of each month, experience STEM Tuesdays at the Edgehill branch with the Adventure Science Center, this month on September 3.
Screen the documentary By One Vote at the Richland Park branch on September 18.
The annual Fall Book Sale at the Green Hills branch will take place September 24-29.
Vanderbilt University and Nashville Public Library invite you the second year of the Then and Now series, kicking off on September 25 at LEAD Cameron Middle School discussing The History of Black Nashville Part II.
Celebrate Hispanic History Month at the Hermitage branch on September 28.
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The 26th Annual Belmont Hillsboro Neighborhood Home Tour will be held Saturday, October 5 from 11am-5 pm. Advance tickets can be purchased at Hillsboro Hardware or www.belmont-hillsboro.com
One of the longest running home tours in the country, this annual event allows you to explore the beautiful historic Belmont-Hillsboro neighborhood, stepping inside homes to discover their historic quality and character. Hope to see you there!
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Frist Art Museum--We Are North Nashville podcast launch--September 5
Andrew Jackson's The Hermitage--Digging In: Nature's Medicine Cabinet--September 5
Cheekwood Estate & Gardens--Bluegrass Under the Stars--September 6
The Nashville Fair--September 6-15
Historic Nashville Inc.--Behind the Scenes tour of Bicentennial Mall--September 7
Frist Art Museum--Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration--September 12
Cheekwood Estate & Gardens--Cheekwood Harvest--September 14-October 27
Tennessee State Museum--TN Writers|TN Stories: Charles Strobel, "The Kingdom of the Poor: My Journey Home" (Vanderbilt University Press) with Katie Seigenthaler (editor), Amy Frogge (editor), Rachel Hester and Kay West--September 14
Cheekwood Estate & Gardens--Japanese Moon Viewing--September 15
Tennessee State Museum--Lunch and Learn: AMERICANAFEST: Curating Music in Museums and Special Collections--September 20
Travellers Rest--Live @ Travellers Rest Songwriter Night--September 26
Andrew Jackson's The Hermitage--Digging In: Jack-son Lantern Carving--September 28
Nashville Zoo--Hispanic Heritage Festival--September 28
Belle Meade Historic Site--Jack Harding: World Flier exhibit--through October
National Museum of African American Music--Nissan Free Wednesday--free admission on the first Wednesday of each month courtesy of Nissan
Tennessee State Museum--Museum Highlight Tours--each Friday and Saturday at 2:00 pm
Frist Art Museum--Architecture Tours--each Saturday from 3:30-4:30 pm
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum--From Where I Stand: The Black Experience in Country Music-online exhibit
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum--Music Row: Nashville's Creative Crossroads--online exhibit
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum--Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues--online exhibit
Check out our online newsletter archives!
Have a preservation-related event that you want us to include? Send a message to Jessica.Reeves@nashville.gov
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