City Market Building

The City Market building, now the Ben West Municipal Building, was built at the same time as the Davidson County Courthouse, from 1936-37. It replaced the previous market building, which stood on the other side of the street—under the current courthouse. Until the 1970s, the area around the Public Square included many stores and merchants. The City Market building was also a hub of commercial activity with stalls for selling goods, restaurants, and public restrooms. It was designed by architect Henry Hibbs in the Adamesque Revival style and features a domed roof on the octagonal cupola. For more information about the early Public Square and the Nashville Inn which once stood here, visit our Early History Tour. This building was named for former Nashville Mayor Ben West, who served from 1951 to 1963. West was the last mayor of the City of Nashville, before the consolidation of the city and county governments into one metropolitan government in 1963. Beverly Briley served as the first mayor of the new consolidated government.

Turn LEFT and head west on James Robertson Parkway. In the northwest corner of Public Square you’ll find an excellent example of public art at the courthouse—Witness Walls. This monument to the Civil Rights movement opened in 2017 and seeks to portray multiple story lines throughout the 1950s and 1960s. To learn more about the important event that took place here in April 1960, take our Downtown Civil Rights Sit-Ins tour.

Continue west on James Robertson Parkway and cross Third Ave. North onto Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.. You’ll pass the Baptist Sunday School Board Publishing building on your right, built in 1924-25 by famed African American architecture firm McKissack and McKissack, who also maintained an office here. For more information on this area, take our Early Black Life and Culture Tour. At Fourth Ave. North, look to the right to see Municipal Auditorium, built in 1962 by local architects Marr & Holman to replace the Bijou Theater as a part of the Capitol Hill redevelopment and urban renewal project. It was the last project completed by the famed architectural duo. Turn RIGHT at Sixth Ave. North; the John Sevier State Building will be on your right.