Great Lawn

Hi, I’m Dr. Angela Sutton, Research Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University and Director of the Builders and Defenders Database. This stop is part of the Nashville Sites walking tour. To explore more stories, take the full tour on NashvilleSites.org.

Spanning 19 acres, the Great Lawn is the central open space of Centennial Park and one of Nashville’s most iconic landscapes. Originally part of the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition grounds, the lawn has long served as a gathering place for more than a century.

In 2020, the lawn underwent a major restoration. New soil grading, underground drainage, and resilient turf now support year-round public use. Two broad promenades on either side of the lawn provide ample pedestrian access between the West End entrance and the Parthenon along with space for festival tents.

The Great Lawn restoration is part of a larger master plan for the park, led by the landscape architecture firm Nelson Byrd Woltz and local partner HDLA. Recent work includes newly planted native trees—such as oak and hickory—that support pollinators and enhance climate resilience.

This space also carries a powerful legacy of civic expression. In the early 1990s, the Great Lawn and Parthenon steps became an important site in Nashville’s LGBTQ history. Under the leadership of activist Jim Hawk, the city’s Pride Festival grew in visibility, and the first Pride Ball was held at the Parthenon. For more, take our LGBTQ driving tour.

Whether you’re here for a concert, a picnic, a game of frisbee—or simply to relax in the sun—the Great Lawn captures what makes Centennial Park feel like Nashville’s front yard.

Congratulations! You’ve completed the Centennial Park walking tour on Nashville Sites. Be sure to tag us @nashvillesites and if you’d like, make a gift by clicking the donate button. Or help sustain the vibrancy of the Park and Parthenon by donating to the nonprofit Centennial Park Conservancy at conservancyonline.com. Now for our conclusion:

From its early days as farmland to its transformation for the 1897 exposition, the park has long been a stage where the city tells its story. The Parthenon stands as a monument to Nashville’s historic aspirations as the “Athens of the South,” but the park’s deeper legacy lies in how it’s been used and cared for by generations of Nashvillians.

From suffrage marches and civil rights protests to music festivals, dance classes, and daily strolls, this has always been a place for gathering, remembering, creating, and imagining. Thank you for joining us. We hope this walking tour inspires you to see Centennial Park as a living record of who we’ve been—and who we are still becoming.

On behalf of all the Nashville Sites cultural ambassadors, thank you! If you enjoyed the tour, we’ve got plenty more for you to try—free and accessible for all—just like Centennial Park. Until next time, this is Dr. Angela Sutton, signing off.