West Side of Pulaski Square

The West side of the square includes many historic buildings despite several fires that have impacted the block. The southern corner of the block was known as "Kuhn's Corner". The block historically included Gov John C. Brown's law office, the St. Giles Hotel, the Bannister Hall building, and the Sam Davis Theater.

(see below for additional information)

(South to North)

Kuhn's Corner, southern corner (see contributing entry)

Gov. John C. Brown's Law Office/Giles Chamber, 110 N. 2nd St.

• Built in 1869
• In 1870, John C. Brown moved his practice to this location. In this year, Brown was elected Governor, and Martin College was founded. Brown's office was on the top floor and the ground floor was a grocery.
• In 1880, became a furniture store which also sold coffins.
• In 1900, a fire damaged but did not destroy the rear of the building, along with its neighboring building the Arlington Hotel.
• In 1910, became the Coca-Cola bottling plant.
• In 1942, the Pulaski Citizen operated out of the building until 1965.
• After that, it was a bookstore, an antique store, and a restaurant.
• In 2002, the Giles County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism purchased the building and has used it as their offices since then. Today, they operate the Makeshift co-working space out of the building.

Vacant spot - Hotel Richland Plaza/St. Giles Hotel, 118 N. 2nd St.

• From the 1860s to the 1960s, the N&D Railroad brought passenger trains to Pulaski on a regular basis, in addition to our location as a crossroads of two major highways. Pulaski had a need for fine hotels for travelers!
• The Tennessee House Hotel was built next door to the current vacant lot in the 1830s and covered four lots north from there.
• The Alamo House Hotel opened in 1873 in the current vacant lot, but a fire in 1877 destroyed both the Alamo House and the Tennessee House.
• The St. Giles Hotel opened in 1878. It was 3 stories, 23 bedrooms, with a dining room, bar, billiards room, and flushing toilets! It was in the space that is a present-day vacant lot, plus used the top stories of adjoining buildings and expanded into the space behind the block. At various times it was known as the Arlington Hotel, the Linden House, and then the St. Giles again by 1910.
• From 1919-1937, the Richland Hotel operated in this location.
• In 1945, it became the Hotel Richland Plaza. That hotel closed in the early 1960s and became apartments before being used by some other businesses.
• In October 1986 the building was demolished and the lot has been vacant since.
• In 2019, Leadership Giles organized the mural that is currently there.

Bannister Hall/Sam Davis Theater/Jail (north side of the block), 183 N. 2nd St.

• The north side of the block was once the location of the Giles County jail, from the 1840s through the Civil war. Sam Davis and the other Coleman Scouts were jailed there before Sam's hanging. The jail burned down during the Civil War and was relocated to the site of today's City Hall on S. 1st St.
• Beginning in 1869, this lot was the site of the Bannister Hall building.
• The upstairs was a large space that served as a meeting space for the YMCA and other organizations. The Church of Christ also met there before they had their own building. There was also a theater upstairs at one time.
• The downstairs was a wholesale grocery, a dry goods store, and a clothing store. It was also home to the Cohen Bros. store, one of several successful businesses in Pulaski run by Jewish families in the late 19th and early 20th century.
• There was once a post office in the basement.
• Bannister Hall was sold in 1936 and demolished in 1938.
• The Sam Davis Theater opened on this site in October of 1938 with modern decor, seating 600 people.
• The Sam Davis Theater was segregated. In the announcement for the theater's opening, they wrote that "at the rear of the balcony, divided from the front by a rail and with a separate entrance from the street, is a section reserved for colored people, who enter the theater from a door opening on West Jefferson Street. There is a separate lobby and restrooms for colored people."
• Between 1961-1964, the Moon-Glo Drive-In and the Sam Davis Theater were operated by the same company, who would open the drive-in during the summer months and the Sam Davis during the winter. The Sam Davis Theater's last show was in 1964.
• After Sam Davis Theater closed, the Hunter-Smith Furniture Store was on this site.
• The building became the county courthouse annex in 1997 and today is the home of Books & More.

Giles County Historical Society