Cummins Station

Another building in the Gulch that has been beautifully restored is the famous Cummins Station. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, the building is one of the city’s best examples of adaptive-reuse.

The building’s history dates to 1907 when W.J. Cummins commissioned Oliver Contracting Company to build 500,000 square feet of commercial space behind Union Station. He financed the venture through $350,000 in stock and $75,000 in cash. Upon its completion, Cummins Station was the largest concrete reinforced terminal building in the world. Designed in the twentieth century Colonial Revival style, the building featured many innovative amenities for its day such as coal-fired steam furnaces and electricity. Some of the furnaces, though not in use today, are still intact. The five-story building housed offices and storage warehouses for over fifty years.

The H.G. Hill Grocery Company and Cheek-Neal Coffee Company were two of the best known local tenants who used Cummins Station for storage and shipping. H.G. Hill Grocery was the largest food retail business in Middle Tennessee from 1906 through the 1930s. Meanwhile, Cheek-Neal Coffee produced the popular coffee brand Maxwell House Coffee. According to Maxwell House lore, President Theodore Roosevelt stayed at the Maxwell House Hotel (located at the corner of Fourth Ave. North and Church Street) on October 21, 1907. During the Nashville visit, he was served Cheek-Neal’s coffee, and he reportedly said that it was “good to the last drop.” Shortly after, the company changed their name to Maxwell House Coffee. Whether this is true or just a fun urban legend, the phrase became the coffee brand’s slogan.

Renovations in the 1990s converted the former warehouse into modern office and retail space. The building is currently owned by DZL Management Company. It received a LEED ND Stage 2 Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, which contributed to the Gulch neighborhood’s overall LEED ND Silver Certification. Feel free to explore the building during regular business hours. It currently houses restaurants, healthcare offices, and even a tattoo parlor. There is an old train car on the non-street side of the building. Though visitors love to walk inside the train cars, they are only open to the public a few times a year, so be sure to check their website when planning ahead. Otherwise, take a selfie with this relic of Nashville’s past and enjoy all that Cummins Station has to offer.

Once you have visited Cummins Station, you have completed the tour, keep reading or listening for a short conclusion.