Watauga Building and Ben West Library

Part I. Watauga Building

The Watauga was developed by J. Craig McLanahan, a Pennsylvanian who came to Nashville as the General Manager of the United States Iron Company. McLanahan purchased Polk Place in 1900 and developed one of the first apartment buildings in the city on the northeast portion of the ‘L’ shaped parcel. He named them Polk Flats, in honor of the President whose home was dismantled for their construction. He also donated the western portion of the parcel, a 100 by 130 foot lot, to the city for a Carnegie Library. The library was constructed in 1903-1904 with a donation of $100,000 from Andrew Carnegie—a well known “Captain of Industry” who owned U.S. Steel. 

McLanahan developed the remaining portion of the Polk Place property as his second apartment building. McLanahan officially named the building Watauga Flats when it opened to residents in 1904. Not as embellished or as grand as the Polk Flats, this six-story building uses a red brick Flemish Stretcher bond for cladding where the headers are glazed brick and can be seen every sixth row. A tan colored brick is used for the inset of the arched openings over the windows that anchor each corner of the building. It was only one of five apartment buildings in downtown Nashville at the turn of the twentieth century.

The name “Watauga” came from the settlement in western North Carolina, now northeastern Tennessee, which is considered by many historians to be the first settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains. Many of the city’s earliest settlers came from or passed through the settlement, including founders James Robertson and John Donelson, and the influence of the Watauga settlement is seen throughout the state. 

The Watauga was converted to a small hotel in 1986, remodeled back to apartments in 1991, and last updated to condominiums in 2006. The building has a working elevator that features an interior cage or scissor-gate, which were common in the first half of the twentieth century. 

The building that once housed the Ben West Library is directly across the street at 225 Polk Ave. With your back to the Watauga Building, face the library and continue the narration. If you’d like, you may cross the street, but be sure to look both ways.

Part II. Ben West Library

This area was originally part of Polk Place and later the site of Nashville’s first Carnegie Library, built in 1904. This mid-century building was named for Mayor Ben West, who served as mayor from 1951 to 1963. Building a new library wasn’t the only impact he had on the city. Mayor West’s efforts in the Civil Rights movement helped make Nashville the first southern city to desegregate lunch counters. For more on this history, take the Civil Rights Sit-Ins Tour.

The library’s construction planning began when Mayor West contacted Crabtree and Taylor Architects in order to complete his vision for this public space. Co-founder, Bruce Crabtree was well known for his mid-century modern design. It features an architectural style known as “new formalism” that combines elements from both antiquity and modernity.

Planning for the Ben West Library began in 1962 and the building was opened to the public in 1966. The space remained an active library for nearly fifty years. In 2013, the building was planned for demolition to make room for a parking lot, but fortunately the proposal fell through. Mayor Karl Dean led the effort, along with the NHF, to designate the building as a Historic Landmark. In 2017, the building was purchased by Hastings, an architectural firm, and extensive renovations were completed in 2019.

Hastings maintained much of the building’s character, which included replacing damaged marble with new marble from the original quarry and restoring the library’s signature staircase. Overhead lighting follows the same path as the former book shelves. Nashville is proud to have preserved this mid-century architectural marvel. As you pass the northern end of the library look for remnants of the original Carnegie Library. 

Continue to the top of the hill on Polk Avenue. Turn RIGHT on Union St. and then turn LEFT on Seventh Ave. North. Walk down Seventh Avenue with the Tennessee Tower on your left.