Early History

Welcome to Nashville Sites! I’m Carole Bucy, Professor of History at Volunteer State Community College and the Davidson County Historian. I’ve been studying and teaching the early history of Nashville and Middle Tennessee for a long time, and I’m excited to go on this journey with you. Begin the tour on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, which opened in 1909. You can get to the bridge either from stairs or elevator on 2nd Ave or you can walk to the entrance on 3rd Ave. Walk to the center of the bridge as you read or listen. As an alternative starting point if you do not want to walk up the bridge, begin at the Riverfront Station.

Also known as the Shelby Street Bridge, it was re-named for the late John Seigenthaler—a Tennessean newspaper editor and a Civil Rights activist. There’s no better place to see the meandering Cumberland River and to take in Nashville’s geographic landscape. Now, just imagine what this area looked like long before skyscrapers and interstate highways! Look to the north to see glimpses of the Highland Rim—an interior low plateau. Davidson County sits in what is called the Central Basin, a bed of limestone.

The Cumberland River begins in Harlan County, Kentucky, and meanders in a southwestward direction with countless bends along its way to the Ohio River, where its waters will take it to the Mississippi River, and out to the Gulf of Mexico. There are eight horse-shoe-like bends in Davidson County alone. Standing here as you look to the North beyond Nissan Stadium, you are looking downstream. Look to the south, and you can see one of the bends and the river current coming towards downtown. Until the Old Hickory and Percy Priest Dams, the level of the river was much lower and it froze from time to time in especially hard winters. Click on the images above to see more pictures and maps of the Cumberland River.

Now make your way down to 108 First Avenue South to Riverfront Station. Walk down the bridge to Third Avenue’s entrance. Turn RIGHT and walk to Broadway then turn RIGHT again and walk down Broadway to reach First Ave. Riverfront Station is still used as a train station for the Music City Star, a train that runs from downtown Nashville all the way to Lebanon, Tennessee! Make your way to the railing that overlooks the river and push “Next Stop.”