Former site of Tree Publishing, 2019. Image courtesy of MHCF.

Completed in 1930, Engine Company No. 7 fire hall is seen here shortly after completion. Photograph courtesy of the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Members of Engine Company No. 7 raise the flag in front of their station, c. 1939. Photograph courtesy of the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Former site of Tree Publishing, 2019. Image courtesy of MHCF.

Stop 3 of 25

Tree Publishing, Former Fire Hall No. 7

The Music Row streets now filled with office buildings once contained numerous homes. However, this structure was originally a fire hall. Designed by a German immigrant named Christian Asmus, the firemen of Fire Hall No. 7 were the primary first response team for the residents of Music Row.

As the music industry transformed this once sleepy neighborhood, it was inevitable that the fire hall, with its unique design, would be repurposed by the creative community of Music Row. In 1994, Sony and Tree Publishing renovated the Fire Hall and reopened it as a songwriter’s studio. It is still operational today as a studio, but the large, arched window gives us a glimpse of the past. The main window was once the exit for first responders—racing to the scene of a neighborhood emergency—whether it be a fire, car accident, or a cat stuck in a tree.

Continue along Music Square West, away from Owen Bradley Park. The next stop is at the corner of Music Square West and Roy Acuff Place. Carnival Music’s address is 24 Music Square West.

Navigate to Next Stop

Tour Stops

Owen Bradley Park, Musica Statue, Buddy Killen Circle

1 Music Square East at Division Street

ASCAP and Sony Music

2 Music Square West, Nashville, TN 37203

Tree Publishing, Former Fire Hall No. 7

16 Music Square West, Nashville, TN

RCA Studio B

1611 Roy Acuff Place, Nashville, TN 37203

Carnival Music and Mural

24 Music Square West, Number 2, Nashville TN

RCA Studio A

30 Music Square West, Number 100, Nashville, TN 37203

Word Entertainment

25 Music Square West, Nashville, TN

Starstruck Studios

40 Music Square West, Nashville TN

iHeartMedia

55 Music Square West, Nashville, TN 37203

Quadrafonic or Quad Studios, Round Hill Music

1802 Grand Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212

Scarritt Bennett Center

1027 Eighteenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212

Ocean Way Nashville Studios

1200 Seventeenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212

Little Sisters of the Poor, now Vanderbilt University

1400 Eighteenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203

Allentown Studios, formerly Jack’s Tracks

1308 Sixteenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212

PLA Media

1303 Sixteenth Avenue South A, Nashville, TN 37212

Big Machine Records

1219 Sixteenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212

House of David

1205 Sixteenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212

Landmark Community Bank, formerly CBS Songs and Sony Music

1013 Sixteenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212

Belmont Church

68 Music Square East, Nashville, TN 37203

Curb College, Quonset Hut, and Columbia Records

34 Music Square East, Nashville, TN 37203

SESAC and Country Music Association (CMA)

35 Music Square East, Nashville TN

Decca Records

27 Music Square East, Nashville, Tennessee 37203

Warner Music and Warner Production

21 Music Square East, Nashville, TN 37203

BMI and Frances Preston

10 Music Square East Nashville, TN 37203

Spence Manor Motor Hotel and Webb Pierce Guitar Swimming Pool

11 Music Square East, Nashville, TN 37203

Full Record & Citation

Title Fire Hall Engine Company Number 7

Creator Nashville Historical Foundation

Author Amelia Smith, Belmont Student; October, 2018

Date 1930; 1991

Address 16 Music Square West, Nashville, TN

Description Fire Hall Engine Company Number Seven was completed in 1930 and maintained its initial design until it was purchased by Tree International Publishing in 1961. While Tree was founded in 1951, Buddy Killen (1932-2006) was hired by Jack Stapp (1912-1980) to sing demos and audition songs in 1954. In 1955 the business' success was born with the publishing of Elvis Presley's (1935-1977) "Heartbreak Hotel." Tree was later unable to find a label to sign African American singer Joe Tex (1933-1982). Because of the Jim Crow laws and segregation of the era, they decided to create their on record label for African American artists, Dial Records. In 1964, Tree Publishing moved into the former Fire Hall Engine Company Number Seven on Music Row and, as of 2019, the hall continued to be a songwriter's studio.

Type Building

Coverage Area 3

Source Albert Asmus, architect; Jack Stapp, founder

Contributor Buddy Killen; Donna Hilley; Tree Publishing; City of Nashville; Dial Records

Subject Architecture; Businesses; Entertainment; Great Depression and New Deal; Industry; Music; Neighborhoods

Keywords Adaptive Reuse, Buildings, Music Industry, Music Row, Recording Studios, Songwriters, Publishing, Fire Halls, Fire Hall Engine Company Number Seven

Rights CC BY-NC 4.0

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