First Store, Bank Street, and the Civil War

Look down at your feet. You’re standing on Bank Street, a roadway whose origins trace back to the 1780s, making it one of the oldest surviving streets in Nashville.

In the early 1780s, Philadelphia merchant Lardner Clark traveled west to the frontier settlement of Nashville, bringing with him ten horses loaded with goods to sell. By 1783, Clark had opened what is recognized as Nashville’s first store, located just east of Public Square.

Known locally as “the house with the piazza,” this site served as a store, tavern, residence, and gathering place. French and English traders, along with Cherokee and Chickasaw merchants, did business here. Clark’s store stood on Lot No. 11. Over time, a narrow passage through this area became known as Clark Alley, first recorded in 1856. And now known as Bank Street, not to be confused with Bankers Alley, which we’ll visit on the next stop.

Take a close look at the street surface beneath you. Bank Street is the only remaining street in Nashville paved with Belgian blocks, also known as setts. Often mistaken for cobblestones, setts are more rectangular and were designed to withstand heavy commercial traffic.

Now turn to look at the building with the historical marker on it. You’re standing in front of the Morris & Stratton Building, located at 218 Second Avenue North—a site that has witnessed Nashville at work, at war, and in recovery.

The Stratton family’s connection to Nashville dates back more than 200 years. In 1818, Thomas Stratton and his wife Elizabeth Blakley Swann arrived with their children. In 1854, their son partnered with his brother-in-law, Kindred J. Morris, to open a grocery business. In fact, Morris & Stratton Wholesale Grocers were operating in this very building when the Civil War began.

Then, in 1862, Nashville surrendered to U.S. forces, who occupied the Tennessee capitol. Soon after, the U.S. Army seized this building and converted it into a military hospital. By 1863, Nashville had become one of the largest hospital cities in the Union, with 25 military hospitals across downtown.

Following the Battle of Shiloh, more than 14,000 wounded soldiers were brought to Nashville. Conditions were grim. In makeshift hospitals like this one, dozens died each day, often from disease rather than battlefield injuries. Malaria, typhoid, and dysentery claimed more lives than combat wounds. During the summer of 1863, this building alone housed 450 cots and treated 301 patients. Bob Dylan once wrote that “the ghosts of slavery ships” still whisper through old buildings. On Second Avenue, those whispers include merchants, soldiers, patients, doctors, nurses, and formerly enslaved men and women.

Before downtown streets were renamed, this address was known as 14 Market Street. Look closely at the entrance to spot U.S. federal shield markers preserving the original address. Today, the historic façade remains, and the building houses legal offices. To learn more, take the Downtown Civil War and Civil War Driving tours on Nashville Sites.

Just north is Washington Square, created through the adaptive reuse of an entire block of historic buildings. The renovation preserved brick exteriors and large windows, organized around interior atriums.

Cross the street and walk down Bankers Alley. You’ll see the entrance to a restaurant called Gray & Dudley on your right; you’ll learn where that name comes from on the next stop. Stop when you reach the other side of the alley, on Third Avenue.