Printers Alley Historic District

Part I. Men's Quarter

You have arrived at the heart of the Printers Alley Historic National Register District. After the Civil War, this area was known as the Men’s Quarter with billiard and gambling halls, saloons, restaurants, barber shops, bathhouses, tobacco shops, and rent-by-the-hour hotels. Following the state’s prohibition of alcohol in 1909, several underground bars, called speakeasies, were also located here. Let’s put it this way, a century ago “respectable” women and “upstanding” men would not have stepped foot on this stretch of Fourth Avenue—especially at night. Notorious businesses in this district included the Italianate style, iron facaded Climax Saloon built in 1887, the Romanesque style Utopia Hotel designed by Hugh Cathcart Thompson in 1891, and the Queen Anne Commercial style Southern Turf Saloon and Hotel completed in 1895. 

A more elegant hotel, called The Noel, opened in 1929 and included the city’s first automobile parking garage. Parking garages aren’t normally architecturally significant, but this one is for sure. Give it a look as you walk toward Printers Alley. The hotel’s Art Deco style was recently brought back to life in a major renovation, and the Noelle Hotel reopened in 2017. Check out our Food for Thought tour to learn more about restaurants on Fourth Avenue, including the Make Ready and Rare Bird food and drink options here at the Noelle Hotel.

Turn LEFT at the corner of Fourth and Church. Stay on the same side of the street as the Noelle Hotel. You will see the Printers Alley sign over the street. Turn LEFT at the sign to explore Printers Alley. Press pause on the narration and resume once you enter Printers Alley, the second part of this stop.

Part II. Printers Alley

Printers Alley runs between Third and Fourth Avenues and from Union to Commerce Streets and is so named because it backed up to several publishing houses and newspapers in the nineteenth century. Businesses included newspapers such as the Tennessean and Nashville Banner and printing companies such as Ambrose and Marshall & Bruce.

In the mid-1930s, printing presses moved west and Printers Alley gained a reputation for adult entertainment with clubs such as Black Poodle Lounge, the VooDoo Room, and the Carousel Club. Musicians such as Boots Randolph, Connie Francis, Roger Miller, and Chet Atkins were regular performers in Printers Alley. Be sure to check out Skull’s Rainbow Room, which reopened in 2015, and for more on this area take our Seedy Side and Printers Alley Tour.

Since 2000, this area has changed dramatically with the renovation of several buildings into boutique hotels with cafes, restaurants, and rooftop bars. What was once an area filled with underground operations is now part of Nashville’s high end dining and night life. Enjoy some time in Nashville’s most historic and culturally significant alleyway.

Return to Church Street and turn RIGHT. Walk up Church Street and back to the corner of Fourth Avenue North. Take the crosswalk diagonally across Church Street to the L&C Tower on the opposite corner to reach our next stop.