Smokey Row

You are standing at the center of Smokey Row, Nashville’s infamous red light district during the Civil War. During its heyday, many of the buildings on the four-block stretch from First Avenue to Fourth Avenue along Church Street were considered “houses of ill-repute.” Nashville’s reputation for “public women” began before the Civil War, when the city was a rough and tumble frontier town in the early 1800s. However, as sexually transmitted diseases increased among Union troops, the city’s red light district was more heavily scrutinized. The Union Army attempted to eliminate and reduce the number of brothels, ordering the removal of approximately 1,500 “lewd” women in the winter of 1862-1863, and hundreds more later that year aboard the Idahoe. Prostitution rates did not decrease as new women moved to the area or women who had been removed found their way back to Nashville. Accepting defeat, Colonel Spalding began the first initiative in the nation to legalize prostitution in late 1863, but this radical solution ended soon after the war. 

The dirty business of sex trafficking was quite profitable for some, and some of the proprietors of these brothels included enterprising women. Rebecca and Eliza Higgins ran a large house on the corner of First Avenue and Church Street and turned a sizable annual profit renting rooms and managing girls. Another owner, Madame Martha Reeder, had a personal wealth valued at $15,000, ranking her among the wealthiest females in Nashville. The houses and buildings associated with the red light district are long gone, but the name Smokey Row still rings a bell for many passing through Church Street. 

For the best views, remain on the west side of Fourth Avenue North, the same side of the street as the Moskovitz Second Hand Shop. Cross Church Street and stop at the corner of Church Street and Fourth Avenue North for your next stop. You will notice the former site of the Maxwell House Hotel (on your left) and the renovated Noelle Hotel building on your right. The Maxwell House Hotel’s historical marker is located on the side of the building facing Church Street.