Davidson County Courthouse and Public Square

The Public Square is one of the oldest public spaces in Nashville and one of the most important locations connected to early Black life and culture. Nashville’s stately courthouse anchored this bustling public square, an area that symbolized its municipal and economic growth from a frontier town into one of the most important cities in the South. Free African Americans, such as Jeffrey Lockelier, worked dutifully for twenty years at the courthouse—following his military service with Andrew Jackson’s regiment in the War of 1812. Lockelier’s death occurred on September 22, 1830, at the age of 42, and he was buried at the City Cemetery.

As a free Black man living in a slave state, Jeffrey Lockelier was an exception. For most African Americans during the 1800s, the public square was an area defined by tragedy and despair. During the antebellum period, every Saturday afternoon at two o’clock, African Americans were shuffled to the steps of the courthouse to be auctioned to the highest bidder. The auctioneer’s rhythmic call bellowed across this space, only interrupted by the pleas of desperate women and children. Hopelessness could also be found on the faces of slaves who received the promise of freedom upon their master’s death only to be resold to a new owner. While the most profitable commodities sold were enslaved persons, there were also many businesses located around the square that supported the business of slavery. For example, Planters Bank loaned money to purchase slaves, Aetna Insurance insured slaves as property, and Morgan and Co. sold food, clothes, and bags for cotton picking.

An equally dark chapter of Nashville’s history, the Public Square was also the site of several murders between the post-Civil War era and the post-WWII era. As many as eight African Americans met their deaths at the hands of white lynch mobs that gathered there. These Black men, accused of crimes, were murdered without due process or trial. This site does also represent positive progression for Nashville’s African American community. In 1960, student marchers, led by Diane Nash and others, walked from local Black colleges and universities to the Public Square. There they met Mayor Ben West on the steps of the courthouse where West agreed to desegregate lunch counters downtown. Take our Civil Rights Tour to learn more.

Cross back over Third Ave. North then cross to the left side of Dr. M.L.K. Jr. Blvd. To your right you’ll see Municipal Auditorium, the former site of the Bijou Theater. Continue on to Fourth Ave. North and the ninth tour stop, on the opposite corner from the earlier Nashville Slave Market stop.