Highlights of Downtown Nashville Walking Tour

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Hatch Show Print in Nashville has been producing custom prints and posters for special events and occasions for over 140 years. Now located inside of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, visitors can stop by the print shop and take a tour to learn more about the art of letterpress printing and even create their own work. Iconic posters featuring legendary artists such as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, and many more can also be viewed and purchased. Hatch Show Print produces new posters daily and continues to promote the music of modern artists with the same turn-of-the-century methods and appeal.

2. Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Opened in 1967, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum refers to itself as "custodians" for preserving, celebrating, and sharing the culture of country music. The Country Music Hall of Fame, called the "Smithsonian of country music," is the top tourist attraction in the city of Nashville. The current museum opened in 2001 and unveiled a $100 million expansion in 2014. The 350,000 square foot building holds galleries, archives, retail stores, space for events, and the Taylor Swift Education Center. The CMA Theater and Ford Theater often play host to live music and award shows. Guests can take guided tours or self-guided tours of the Museum's galleries and the Hall of Fame Rotunda that features legends such as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Garth Brooks, and many others. In addition to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, visitors may also visit the legendary Hatch Show Print shop and the Historic RCA Studio B.

3. Schermerhorn Symphony Center

The Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which first opened on September 9, 2006, and was named for the late Kenneth Schermerhorn, is home to the Grammy-winning Nashville Symphony, which was founded in 1946 and which Schermerhorn led for 22 years. Located in downtown Nashville, across the street from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Center was constructed at a cost of $123.5 million and totals 197,000 square feet in area. It is Nashville’s premier classical music venue, though jazz and pop music events of many kinds also take place there. Its main venue is the 30,000-square-foot Laura Turner Concert Hall, which features 1,844 seats over three levels and is one of the few American concert halls which extensively employs natural lighting. Despite its relatively recent history, it has already had to withstand two major crises. In May 2010, a devastating flood hit Nashville, causing extensive damage to the center, which cost millions in repairs. In addition, in 2013 the organization faced a debt crisis in which the property was threatened with foreclosure, and a public auction was scheduled. Fortunately, due to the last minute intervention of a patron, a settlement was reached in which the center’s debt was greatly reduced, and the auction was canceled.

4. The Johnny Cash Museum

This museum gives tourists a view into both the professional and private life of Johnny Cash. The contents of the museum include messages from Cash and other records of Cash’s. Included in these is a composition of the final song he wrote shortly prior to his passing. The museum can be found in Nashville, Tennessee and is open Monday-Sunday from 8:00am-7:00pm.

5. Ernest Tubb Record Shop

The Ernest Tubb Record Shop was founded by country music singer Ernest Tubb in partnership with his tax accountant Charles Mosley in 1947. Tubb was also the creator of the second-longest live radio show, second only to the Grand Ole Opry radio program, the "Midnite Jamboree."The main shop moved in 1951 to its current location at 417 Broadway to allow for more room for the live in-store broadcasts. The "Midnite Jamboree" is now recorded at the nearby Texas Troubadour Theatre. The Ernest Tubb Record Shop remains a staple in Downtown Nashville and is one of the most recognized record shops in America.

6. Ryman Auditorium

The Ryman Auditorium is affectionately known as the "Mother Church of Country Music." Built as a tabernacle in the 1890s by Thomas Ryman, the church is most known for being the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. The formative years of the Opry that would change Nashville and country music took place on that historic wooden stage at the Ryman. Legendary performers such as Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, and many more would come to the Ryman to perform to more than 2,000 spectators seated in the pews. After the Opry left the Ryman, the historic church fell into disrepair. Finally, in the 1990s, the Ryman underwent a multi-million dollar renovation, and the National Historic Landmark remains one of the most visited venues in Music City.

7. "Mass Meeting" Against Women's Suffrage at Ryman Auditorium, August 19, 1920

On August 18, 1920, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed – by one vote – a motion to ratify the 19th Amendment, a federal measure that extended suffrage to all American citizens regardless of gender. With that vote and the support of the governor, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment. With support for the Amendment being fairly limited in other Southern states, Tennessee's action was both symbolic and historically significant--it meant that the 19th Amendment had been ratified by three-fourths of the states--the requirement set forth in Article V of the Constitution prior to the adoption of any Constitutional Amendment. In response, some of the opponents of women’s suffrage, known then as “Antis,” held a protest meeting that saw the extension of suffrage by federal action through the lens of state's rights. On the day following the vote, August 19th, the “Antis” held an historic mass rally at the Ryman Auditorium – later famous as the home of the Grand Ole Opry – to protest the result and try somehow to overturn it. Speakers appealed to notions of patriarchy and "traditional" gender roles, as well as playing to anger against the perception that women's suffrage would erode the power of Southern whites. One pro-suffrage newspaper gleefully reported that the meeting failed to attract an audience, while the leading paper of the Antis reported a "monster" crowd in attendance. Well-attended or not, this rear-guard action failed, as Governor A.H. Roberts supported the decision of a majority of state legislators and added his signature to the bill.

8. Downtown Presbyterian Church

Constructed in 1848, this historic Nashville church dates back to the earliest years of the city. and replaced two previous structures that were built in 1814 and 1832. That first church structure was built here in 1814 and was destroyed by a fire in 1832. A second sanctuary was constructed the same year and the third (and present) sanctuary was constructed after another fire in 1848 destroyed the second church. The current church was designed by William Strickland, who also designed the Tennessee State Capital and who has been called by the National Park Service's National Historic Landmarks program "one of the foremost architects in the United States." The church was partially unfinished during the Civil War when it was used by occupying Union forces as a hospital. The columns were put in place in 1871, and much of the other finishing details were completed in the remaining decades of the 19th century. The church was known as First Presbyterian until 1955 when the name was changed to "Downtown" after the First Presbyterian congregation moved to a more suburban location. It is affectionately known as the "Karnak on the Cumberland."

9. Nashville Sit-Ins at Harveys Department Store (1959-1960)

On November 28, 1959, a small group of African American students under the leadership of James Lawson and the Nashville Christian Leadership Council (NCLC) entered Harveys Department Store which was located here from 1942 to 1984. The students requested service at the store's lunch counter, the NCLC's first test of a non-violent direct action tactic to challenge the longstanding practice of racial discrimination at Nashville lunch counters. Although denied service, the students reported that they did not receive any threats and they left the store quietly to continue planning small-scale actions that would help them test public sentiment and potential challenges they might face as they planned a sustained campaign of sit-ins at Nashville lunch counters that began the following February. On February 13, 1960, larger groups of African American students were refused service at the S.H. Kress Department Store, Woolworths, and McClellan's after they occupied the lunch counters for two hours until the owners of the shops closed for business for the day. The sit-ins spread to seven additional segregated shops and disrupted business downtown until May 10, 1960. On that day, NCLC leaders agreed to end the demonstrations at Harveys and five other stores after management agreed to serve all people regardless of their race. The successful sit-ins of Nashville coincided with the sit-ins in Greensboro and other Border South cities that helped to end segregation throughout the region.

10. Doctor's Building (Homewood Suites Nashville)

Constructed in 1916 as a three-story structure and known as the Doctor's Building owing to its original tenants, this Renaissance Revival Style was expanded in 1912 with an additional three stories. A local Vanderbilt University professor of Surgery, Dr. Matthew McGannon, had the building constructed under the design of Nashville architects Dougherty and Gardner. After his death in 1919, Dr. McGannon's widow sold the property to the Methodist Church South. By the mid-twentieth century, the number of physician's offices in the building dwindled but were replaced by government agencies. Doctor's Building became a listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The renovated building now contains a hotel, Homewood Suites.

11. Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) Building

The five-story brick building at 211 7th Ave. N was built for the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) in 1911 and served that purpose until 1978. The official opening ceremonies were held on May 9th, 1911, and included vocal performances, speeches, and prayers. The facility gradually became racially integrated in the 1960s. The YWCA building was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1982; in that same year, the structure was renovated and became the Jacques Miller Office Building. Plans were announced in 2021 to renovate the building once again into a boutique hotel. The YWCA building is the last of a group of buildings built in Nashville in the early 1900s as Christian athletic facilities.

12. WSM Studio

WSM became the first commercial FM radio station to broadcast in the United States when it debuted in 1925, broadcasting from the fifth floor of the National Life building at 7th Avenue and Union Street. Today, the station operates a small studio inside the Opryland Resort. Edwin Craig, an employee of National Life and Accident Insurance Company, created WSM to capitalize on radio’s potential for advertising. He dubbed the station “WSM” to reflect the company motto “We Shield Millions.” Indeed, the radio station provided the opportunity for advertising, community service, and augmentation of company identity. The station far exceeded Craig’s expectations, fueling an expansion to a larger venue and providing the origins for the Grand Old Opry.

13. The Hermitage Hotel

The Hermitage Hotel is a prized treasure in Nashville, Tennessee. Construction on the city's first million-dollar hotel began in 1908 and was completed two years later. The Grand Opening on September 17, 1910 featured some of the most prominent people in Nashville, who enjoyed music brought in from New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The Hermitage Hotel was only the third skyscraper to be built in Nashville. The lobby floors were covered in white Italian marble and featured a painted glass skylight, while the guest rooms were paneled in mahogany. Over the years, numerous politicians and presidents such as Taft, Kennedy, Nixon, Clinton, and Bush have visited The Hermitage Hotel. Being a staple in Nashville, country music stars like Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash have also stayed here. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in August of 2020.

14. S.H. Kress Department Store and the 1960 Nashville Sit-Ins

Nashville's Kress building was completed in 1935 and features the Art Deco style that typified many new buildings of the era. The store was part of an S.H. Kress chain of five and ten cent stores that were located in downtowns throughout the United States. In 1960, University students at local Black colleges in Nashville chose the S. H. Kress Department Store among other sites in downtown Nashville as a location where they would use non-violent direct action to challenge racial segregation. The first protest at the Kress building began with a sit-in that resulted in African American civil rights activists occupying the Kress lunch counter on February 13, 1960. The students continued to protest until May 10, 1960, when six downtown establishments agreed to serve all people regardless of race.

15. Tennessee State Museum

The official museum of the state, Tennessee State Museum includes 60,000 square feet of exhibit space for the museum's permanent exhibit which takes visitors through the history of the state from its Native inhabitants to the modern era. There are also several galleries that feature rotating exhibits that go into more depth about specific themes and topics such as women's history, the Civil War, civil rights, and political history. The museum is located on the first few floors of the James K. Polk building in downtown Nashville. The building is also home to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

16. Tennessee State Capitol

The State Capitol Building is located at the crest of a hill once known as Cedar Knob. The capitol stands prominently within the downtown skyline because this hill is the highest point in the city. The cornerstone for the building was laid on July 4, 1845, and construction was completed in 1859. The building was designed by architect William Strickland and later stages of construction were supervised by British architect Harvey Ackroyd because Strickland died five years prior the completion of the building. Strickland's body is entombed in the Capitol.

17. Tennessee State Library and Archives

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an educational resource and an example of late Neoclassical architecture, the Tennessee State Library and Archives was designed by H. Clinton Parrent and completed in 1953. Dedicated to Tennessee's World War II veterans, the building holds state documents, maps, newspapers, books, photographs, genealogical documents, and spaces for exhibits, programs, research, and educational outreach.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Highlights of Downtown Nashville Walking Tour

Created by Joan Adkins on May 5th 2017, 6:24:23 pm.

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Description

This 2.4-mile walking tour starts at the state capitol complex. It includes a representative mixture of museums, landmarks, monuments, and historic buildings as it winds its way toward the Ryman and some of the most significant sites in the history of country music, such as the Country Music Hall of Fame and local establishments like Hatch Show Print. The tour comes close to numerous other iconic Nashville landmarks like the Union Station Hotel and two dozen others-- turn on geofencing in the mobile app or simply browse by location to discover landmarks near the route.

Entries on This Tour

Highlights of Downtown Nashville Walking Tour

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