Nashville Street Names: Even MORE Fascinating History!

We’ve touched on the history of Nashville street names before, but because the history of our fair city is so rich, we barely scratched the surface. So we’re back with another round of fascinating facts, gathered with the help of beloved Nashville historian and author Ridley Wills II. If you want to dive even deeper into this topic, check out Ridley’s book, Nashville Streets and Their Stories — it’s a fun read!

MORE Nashville Street Name History

West Nashville

White Bridge Road

It’s hard to believe, considering today’s traffic, but White Bridge Road was once only a rural path … until, in 1912, a dangerous wagon bridge across the railroad tracks was replaced by a 500+ foot-long concrete and girder bridge that was coated with sand-colored cement. To prevent weathering, a bright white coating of cement was applied to the surface, and that’s why it takes so long to get to Trader Joe’s now.

Belle Meade

There are at least five streets in Nashville named after famous horses, a throwback to when the area was a hotbed of equine sports during the 19th century. Iroquois Avenue in Belle Meade is named in honor of the first American-bred stallion to win the prestigious English Derby. In addition to having the famous annual May steeplechase event named after him, Iroquois stood in stud at Belle Meade Farm from 1887 until 1899. He was joined in the pastures at Belle Meade by Blackburn, 1880’s top thoroughbred, who had a lane and an avenue dedicated in his honor. Two other famous horses honored with avenues were Wedgewood and Enquirer. Paddock Lane behind the Belle Meade Plantation was once home to some of these fine equines.

Charlotte Park

After famous automaker Henry Ford built the Ford Glass Plant in Charlotte Park in the 1950s, the city named a drive after him. Housing was built to accommodate many of the plant workers, and the roads in their subdivision still sport the names of Ford auto models like Comet Drive, Thunderbird Drive, Galaxie Drive, and Starliner Drive. Note, all are “Drives” as that’s what the name Ford is known for!

The Nations

The origin story of The Nations neighborhood is still up for debate. Still, the most popular account of the region’s name surrounds a legend that members of the various Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations tribes met with Nashville founder James Robertson around the Treaty Oak near where West Park stands today. So the neighborhood name actually precedes the streets, which doesn’t explain why most of them are named after states. For that explanation, Ridley Wills says developers were hoping to attract settlement by people from other states when the streets were laid out in 1887.

Downtown

Church Street

Church Street was initially named Spring Street before someone got the idea to change it to recognize the numerous houses of worship along the avenue in just a few blocks of downtown. After years of informal use, the name was officially noted in the public record in 1866.

Broadway

Broadway was originally called Broad Street, an appropriate name because it was wide enough to transport unloaded goods from the Cumberland River through town and into the hinterlands. In 1906, Broad Street became the official dividing line between North and South Avenue addresses downtown. Division Street is another aptly-named thoroughfare, as in 1910, it was deemed the dividing line between the Tenth and Eleventh Civil Districts.

Famous Alleys

Streets aren’t the only Nashville throughways with interesting stories behind their names. Some of the alleys that cut between the main commercial streets of downtown were referred to by the businesses that lined them. Hence Bankers Alley between 2nd and 3rd avenues and the (in)famous Printers Alley, once the center of the printing and newspaper trade in Nashville before evolving into a nightlife hotspot and home to legendary nightclubs like the Carousel Club, Club Unique, and the Gaslight. Operating at the fringes of legality when liquor-by-the-drink was still illegal until 1967, the clubs lost a little of their luster after patrons could find a cocktail in other parts of town, and the establishments got a little seedier. But that was then. These days, Printers Alley is a hotspot for locals and tourists alike!

East Nashville

Shelby Park

Long before Eddy Grant scored a disco hit in 1982 by suggesting you “Rock down to Electric Avenue,” East Nashvillians could travel into Shelby Park along the street of that name, which was a recognition of the surrounding landowner, the Tennessee Electric Railroad Company.

Riverside Drive

Also in East Nashville is the perplexing Riverside Drive, a road that never actually gets closer than half a mile from the Cumberland River and which curiously runs perpendicular to the river instead of alongside it for much of its length. Parts of Riverside Drive were so wide compared to the rest of the neighborhood that it was often referred to as “Double Drive.”

Woodland and Russell

While less about the street name origins and more about the area’s history, it’s worth mentioning that many of the most successful merchants in East Nashville lived along Woodland Street and Russell Street. A small alley ran between those two wide boulevards, and streetcar conductors would acknowledge the high society residents of the neighborhood by calling out the stops as “Eighth Street, Ninth Street, Society Alley!”

Berry Hill

If you’ve lived in Nashville for a while, you might have wondered about the name of Sidco Drive. The area around 100 Oaks was purchased for development in the 1940s (when there were still hundreds of oaks covering the surrounding land). The name came from an acronym of the developers’ name — the Suburban Industrial Development Corporation. Wonder no more.

Edgehill

Like many Nashville streets, Edgehill Avenue was named after a family home, Charles Thompson’s estate that sat atop the hill near what would become Peabody Normal College. When the college purchased his property, Thompson had the house dismantled and moved to a gravel road that adjoined the Nashville Golf and Country Club. While the club moved to the Belle Meade Highlands in 1916 and became the famous country club, Golf Club Lane still exists as a reminder of that unpaved path.

Civil War History

Two Civil War-era constructions also contributed the names to several local lanes. Battery Lane formed the northern and eastern boundaries of the Overton Lea estate. During the Battle of Nashville (December 15 and 16, 1864), Union troops set up a battery of artillery pieces there, near what is now known as Shy’s Hill, the site of the decisive skirmish of the conflict. Magazine Street in The Gulch is on the site of a Union gunpowder storage facility that exploded in 1863.

Nice View

Two Nashville neighborhoods and streets in the area were named for the Spanish and French translations of the phrase “nice view,” so if you live near Buena Vista Pike or Bellevue Road, you can brag to your friends about the scenery.

Be sure to check out the first installment of this two-part series: The Fascinating History of Nashville Street Names.

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