Workmen's Circle Hall

In 2010, many in Nashville thought this building was history. Instead it has become a historic preservation success. That year Historic Nashville Inc., a local nonprofit, placed Workmen’s Circle Hall on its “Nashville Nine"—a list of local buildings most in danger of demolition. It was saved when the Aerial Development group purchased it in 2013 for $700,000. After two years, and a $500,000 restoration, Workmen’s Circle Hall was honored at the Preservation Awards by the Nashville Historical Foundation.

Built in 1859, it first served as the home of Isaac Garretson, an elder statesman in the local Jewish community. The house was later sold to Alexander Iser and then Jacob Bloomstein, both members of Nashville’s Jewish business and religious elite. In 1875, Bloomstein enlarged the house for his growing family of ten children. His daughter, Elizabeth, born in 1857, was one of the first graduates of Peabody College for Teachers. She obtained a master’s degree at the University of Nashville and returned to Peabody, her alma mater, as a history professor and librarian. Elizabeth Bloomstein was also active in several Nashville civic organizations including the Ladies’ Hermitage Association, Twentieth Century Club, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

The Workmen’s Circle purchased the building for use as its Hall Branch 641. Founded in 1900 in New York City, the Workmen’s Circle is an American Jewish fraternal organization. The Workmen’s Circle used this townhouse as a residence, lodge, and community center. The organization also provided aid and support to Jewish workers and immigrants and provided community and hospital services. The building retains the original cast concrete sign. Look for it at the top of the building with the name written in English and Yiddish. The Nashville branch of Workmen’s Circle closed in the 1970s, and the building has housed several other businesses since.

Continue heading north on Fifth Avenue South, turn RIGHT onto Peabody Street. Walk two blocks and turn LEFT onto Fourth Avenue South. As you continue north, towards Broadway, the next stop is at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Korean Veterans Boulevard. This building formerly housed St. Paul’s African Methodist Episcopal Church.