Public Square

Welcome to the Public Square and the Davidson County Courthouse. Today, visitors and locals alike come here to admire the Art Deco architecture and participate in community events like yoga, summer concerts, and festivals. You are looking at the fourth building to occupy this space, but its role as a gathering place for Nashvillians has remained the same from its original construction in the 1780s. 

You might notice that Public Square is not in the center of town. Well, that’s because it was established on high ground near the Cumberland River—the lifeblood of the city. In the early days of the city, the river was used to receive and ship goods to larger cities like New Orleans and Louisville. After the Civil War, Nashville became a “commercial trade emporium” as the business district grew to the South and West. By the 19th century this portion of downtown bustled with people, retail shops, restaurants, and warehouses. This transformation also came with growing pains. 

By the Civil War, there were nearly 100 more saloons than restaurants in the blocks between here and Broadway. Gambling, drinking, and prostitution proliferated in the area, which became Nashville’s red-light district. Several of the saloons were owned by Bynum R. Demonbreun, the great-grandson of one of the first Europeans to arrive in Nashville. Pigs and chickens roamed the streets, and impoverished residents lived in cramped and subpar housing. In 1877, a local health official declared that Nashville had the highest death rate in the United States, particularly from cholera and typhoid epidemics. The pub-lined Public Square stood at the center of an area rife with poverty, disease, and debauchery. But in the early twentieth century, local officials, who worked out of Public Square, and others helped to lead reform efforts as Nashville sought to modernize.

You can see evidence of Nashville’s turn to modernity if you look just south of Public Square. At the intersection of 3rd and Union Street, you will see the Stahlman Building. Completed in 1907, it was Nashville’s second “skyscraper” standing 12-stories tall. Though it was originally occupied by Fourth National Bank, the neon letters that light the top of the building are an artifact of the years that the WKDF radio station called the building home from 1967 to 1978. Before we leave Public Square, walk around the perimeter near Union Avenue. You will see black stone markers with engraved images, articles, and advertisements from Nashville’s history. Check them out as you make your way to 3rd Avenue North. For more on Public Square take one of our other tours on Nashville Sites: Public Art and Murals, Capitol and Church Architecture, Civic and Public Spaces, and Civil Rights Sit-Ins.

Facing the courthouse, turn left, descend the stairs of the Public Square and cross 3rd Avenue North at Deaderick Street. Go ahead and click “Next Stop” to listen while you walk. Walk up Deaderick, on the left side of the street, for three blocks until you reach 6th Avenue North. Stop at the corner of 6th Avenue at the front entrance of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.