Project Thread/New Construction/Photo du jour/Const. CAMs

[rookzie]

13 minutes ago, fieldmarshaldj said:

MLBrumby had me confused, he queried about the building on the left, so I thought he was asking about the old T.C. RR depot building at the end of Demonbreun at 1st, not the old Terminal building at the end of Broadway on the right. As my parents & I used to go downtown almost every weekend in the '70s and '80s, I have fond memories of running around the Terminal building floors (which would sometimes flood on the river side, and were always caked with river mud).

Folks that remember the old Cumberland River cruiseboats (the small ones, not the Gen'l Jackson) might recall they had to carefully navigate the often muddy mess from 1st down to the lower level of the building to board the boat.

Regarding that wonderful 1938 photo, as you pointed out, some of those similar railcars and the stub were still there 4 decades later. I used to play on those railcars parked on 1st and have some photos of myself as a youngster sitting on them. Folks don't realize just how "dead" it was down there on the weekends. It was like visiting a ghost town, but fun for me as a kid, nonetheless. I loved the old rails and exposed cobblestones in the street. That always meant old "urban" to me and I still loved finding those bits and pieces when I was able to travel.

 

You're correct fdj.  All I posted was in vain then, since I mis-read ML's reference (to the "left").  Thanks for bringing that up.  That was the TC depot and offices, which still had its red neon sign still all lit up, even into the early-mid '60s, even though passenger service was discontinued when I was a kid, around 1955 or so (by then only to Harriman, Tenn., where passengers connected with the Southern Ry to Cincinnati, Knoxville and points to the Eastern Seaboard).

[MLBrumby]

That's the one I was asking about... the old terminal at the foot of Demonbreun, which I don't remember.  I do recall something at the foot of B'way when I first came to town, and have seen those pictures. So Rookzie's explanation was about the RR tracks between the two.  My recollection of downtown in the late '80s and early '90s is sketchy, but I recall we went to a Goodwill store somewhere down there to help a charity... and also remember a fire station. I think those two places were there through the 90s. I recall the whole Lower Broadway was quite dumpy, and there was a block of buildings that the city was trying to get some old woman who owned them to clean them up.  That's pretty much all I remember. In comparison, 2nd/Market was a far cry better to go to after dark.   Farther up the hill, I remember thinking that the Convention Center was small and in the midst of the ugliest part of downtown... not exactly a Chamber of Commerce location. 

[fieldmarshaldj]

4 hours ago, rookzie said:

 

You're correct fdj.  All I posted was in vain then, since I mis-read ML's reference (to the "left").  Thanks for bringing that up.  That was the TC depot and offices, which still had its red neon sign still all lit up, even into the early-mid '60s, even though passenger service was discontinued when I was a kid, around 1955 or so (by then only to Harriman, Tenn., where passengers connected with the Southern Ry to Cincinnati, Knoxville and points to the Eastern Seaboard).

No worries, it gave you the opportunity to post that '38 photo that I'd never seen before.

[fieldmarshaldj]

4 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

That's the one I was asking about... the old terminal at the foot of Demonbreun, which I don't remember.  I do recall something at the foot of B'way when I first came to town, and have seen those pictures. So Rookzie's explanation was about the RR tracks between the two.  My recollection of downtown in the late '80s and early '90s is sketchy, but I recall we went to a Goodwill store somewhere down there to help a charity... and also remember a fire station. I think those two places were there through the 90s. I recall the whole Lower Broadway was quite dumpy, and there was a block of buildings that the city was trying to get some old woman who owned them to clean them up.  That's pretty much all I remember. In comparison, 2nd/Market was a far cry better to go to after dark.   Farther up the hill, I remember thinking that the Convention Center was small and in the midst of the ugliest part of downtown... not exactly a Chamber of Commerce location. 

I'm momentarily forgetting about the location of the Goodwill Store. The fire depot within the urban core was located at 4th & McGavock, exactly on the block (NW corner) of the Symphony. That was not a historic structure, though. The rundown block of buildings on the south side of Broadway right near the Arena, owned by that bitter old beotch, Inez Silverfield. She was frequently in the news. At the time of the Convention Center's opening (around 1987), it was already outdated (more of a late '70s design) and too small (and there was, unfortunately, the Gentlemen's Agreement between the city and Gaylord that the city would not make any upgrades to the CC so long as they expanded the Opryland Hotel complex, which really put downtown in a bind). There was also next to nothing in that area at the time, and as cited, its design made it viscerally hostile to Broadway and 5th, though its "front" on Commerce was scarcely more welcoming.

[CenterHill]

12 hours ago, rookzie said:

 

 

 

That thing was the historic (and eyesore) "River Terminal", where TC railroad freight was trans-loaded between vessels and railcars.  It was demolished in the 1980s to make way for Riverfront Park.. About twenty years later, the historic carousel was suddenly moved from the park so construction could begin on the Music City Star Station.  The actual Tennessee Central passenger Depot had bee located just south (left) of the Shelby Street bridge, on the site which later would become the Nashville Thermal Transfer Plant.

In the photo below, what used to be Acme Feed on the SW corner (lower-left street corner) of that intersection shown (First.Ave. and Broadway) and nearly all those warehouses in the next block on the left. And although it had been partially re-aligned over time, that TC street lead and stub upside those warehouses shown, actually had remained in service into the very early 1980s, when that part of First Ave. still had exposed granite cobblestone (and you still could have fun and "peel out" on slippery rails and cobble).  Way back, motorists on First Ave. had to dodge both Nashville Railway and Light Company streetcars (the track on the left, rounding the corner) and Tennessee Central Railway freight trains shuttling between River Terminal (at right) and the TC's yard, located about a mile east.  Nashville Railway and Light Company was controlled by TEPCO, which became absorbed in 1939 into the TVA (Tenn. Valley Authority).  The bridge in the upper-right background was the old Woodland Street bridge, demolished around 1966 for replacement.  Photo circa 1938.

-==-

Thanks, Rookzie    I have most every book of Nashville historical photos and don't think I've seen that one before.   What a busy little street 1st Ave was back then and our riverfront more of a "shipyard".   Any idea what the buildings were in the distance on the east side of 1st, where Ft Nashboro is (was) today? 

[fieldmarshaldj]

1 hour ago, CenterHill said:

Thanks, Rookzie    I have most every book of Nashville historical photos and don't think I've seen that one before.   What a busy little street 1st Ave was back then and our riverfront more of a "shipyard".   Any idea what the buildings were in the distance on the east side of 1st, where Ft Nashboro is (was) today? 

Several of those were part of the east side of the Courthouse Square, some truly stunning 19th century architectural gems, and the rest were warehouse buildings. They were demolished to build the Gay Street Connector and for the Woodland St. Bridge approach.

[markhollin]

John Hiatt on side stage digital screen performing at Winter Park at NHL Fan Fair (Hall of Fame Park & Demonbruen St. closed off in front of Country Music Hall of Fame).  Jan. 29, 2016.

 

[rookzie]

18 hours ago, CenterHill said:

Thanks, Rookzie    I have most every book of Nashville historical photos and don't think I've seen that one before.   What a busy little street 1st Ave was back then and our riverfront more of a "shipyard".   Any idea what the buildings were in the distance on the east side of 1st, where Ft Nashboro is (was) today? 

 

16 hours ago, fieldmarshaldj said:

Several of those were part of the east side of the Courthouse Square, some truly stunning 19th century architectural gems, and the rest were warehouse buildings. They were demolished to build the Gay Street Connector and for the Woodland St. Bridge approach.

CenterHill, just as fdj mentioned (and perhaps you have been aware), the strip of buildings, close to the Courthouse had formed the eastern portion of the C.H. Square, which at one time appeared as a “steroid” version of those typical of smaller county seats, like the one in Gallatin, TN.  As the Victory Memorial bridge was erected (construction commencing in 1953) some of those narrow multi-story flats (referred to as “blocks” by their respective owners) would be razed   The erosion of the downtown retail (and wholesale) business culture, with the advent of suburban shopping centers and malls, eventually led to many of these remaining structures becoming occupied as bonding companies, and by the late 1960s, the square lined structures virtually had transformed into one-stop-shopping for jail bonds.   The remaining structures on the east side of the square would be leveled during the mid-1970s.

All those structures on facing First Ave. from the river actually extended to the bank above the river’s edge, in most cases having a rather precipitous exposure along the riverside.  The buildings immediately to the north of the Fort Nashborough site were pretty much the same stock as those on the north (far) side of the Woodland Street Bridge, and as such they had housed both retail and wholesale individually owned businesses as well.  The businesses included several commercial equipment companies, primarily jobber wholesaler, dealing as middlemen agents in small lots of goods. In 1953 some of these remaining businesses south of that bridge had been "Medearis Equip.", "Nashville Tent & Awning", "Nathan Halpern Hats", and "Rose Equip.".  Today, virtually no vestige remains of those 19th-C. structures, east of First Ave. along the Westbank.

 

Edited January 30, 2016 by rookzie

[CenterHill]

Thanks for that background, Rookzie and Fmdj.   Shame to have lost all of those. 

[fieldmarshaldj]

These were five of the six East Side C.H. Square buildings:

As you can see by the lower picture, taken in 1956 when the Victory Memorial Bridge was nearing completion, the magnificent 5-story building on the far left was demolished for the approach ramp. On the long, 4-story building next to it, it had already been stripped of the Second Empire adornments on the top floor, reducing it to 3 stories. The two buildings to the right of it had already been demolished for a parking lot. That left just the building on the right largely unscathed.

You can also see two of the remaining buildings (not shown in the upper photo) on either side of the old Woodland Street Bridge, both of which would be demolished for the new bridge by 1966 and for the Gay Street Connector, which would've run underneath them.

The last 19th C. survivors of the CH square fell in 1974, the ones on the north side, which were demolished for the new jail. All in all, a terrible architectural loss for the city.

[rookzie]

28 minutes ago, fieldmarshaldj said:

These were five of the six East Side C.H. Square buildings:

As you can see by the lower picture, taken in 1956 when the Victory Memorial Bridge was nearing completion, the magnificent 5-story building on the far left was demolished for the approach ramp. On the long, 4-story building next to it, it had already been stripped of the Second Empire adornments on the top floor, reducing it to 3 stories. The two buildings to the right of it had already been demolished for a parking lot. That left just the building on the right largely unscathed.

You can also see two of the remaining buildings (not shown in the upper photo) on either side of the old Woodland Street Bridge, both of which would be demolished for the new bridge by 1966 and for the Gay Street Connector, which would've run underneath them.

The last 19th C. survivors of the CH square fell in 1974, the ones on the north side, which were demolished for the new jail. All in all, a terrible architectural loss for the city.

 

Thank, fDj, I corrected the erratum in my post on the opening of the "Vic'try" bridge, which I stated as 1953, and I hadn't caught it, even after the 13th proof-reading.  Fact is, I actually recall in my late pre-school days Sunday ridings across that newly opened bridge, but even then, for some reason I felt this "disturbed" sensation of just being there, while my parents were raving over "this here new river crossing".  Maybe I had this extra sense, as it were, even at five years of age, that supposed progress was not the same as purported improvement.

[MLBrumby]

Got this shot of Aertson from the ConCam.  Just want to share...  

 

[fieldmarshaldj]

4 hours ago, rookzie said:

Thank, fDj, I corrected the erratum in my post on the opening of the "Vic'try" bridge, which I stated as 1953, and I hadn't caught it, even after the 13th proof-reading.  Fact is, I actually recall in my late pre-school days Sunday ridings across that newly opened bridge, but even then, for some reason I felt this "disturbed" sensation of just being there, while my parents were raving over "this here new river crossing".  Maybe I had this extra sense, as it were, even at five years of age, that supposed progress was not the same as purported improvement.

I wasn't sure of the exact date of its opening, I presumed you were right, but double-checked, and found it was 1956. Seemed a bit slow to get going. Since the street was a U.S. Highway, then-Gov. Gordon Browning apparently had to authorize its construction around 1949, rather than city officials. Obviously built to relieve the badly overburdened old Woodland St. Bridge and the Sparkman St. one as well. As you said, it's unfortunate they couldn't have located it elsewhere to keep the CH square intact. "Where ?" is the big question. Sadly, at that time, that was probably the only logical location for it.

Alas, when then-Mayor Purcell announced he was doing something to revitalize the Courthouse Square, I wished it was going to be a partial reconstruction of those beautiful east side buildings (with the first floor for retail, second for attorneys, 3rd/4th and 5th for lofts) rather than just some immense, clichéd open park. Below that, a reconstruction of the old Nashville Inn, which sat on the SE corner, which could be a museum. A "real" square as it used to be.

[Pyramid Scheme]

What on earth possessed us to get rid of such awesome buildings! Demolished for an entrance ramp? That's like seeing the Mona Lisa and thinking "This looks like it would make good kindling".

[Tim29tn]

3 hours ago, Philip said:

What on earth possessed us to get rid of such awesome buildings! Demolished for an entrance ramp? That's like seeing the Mona Lisa and thinking "This looks like it would make good kindling".

It's just rare to find anybody that cares about how everything started. Progress has its ups and downs and in this case it's definitely a down. Even in smaller towns it's happened. For example, I was born and raised in Manchester which is about an hour down interstate 24 out of Nashville. You can drive around the town square and there's nothing but mainly lawyers offices and a pawn shop. There use to be a movie theatre and other things back in the day for people to do and now the heart of the town is just sad to look at. Its not quite the same as destroying a building, but it's close enough to consider it as much. I would love to see people out and about on the town square once again and enjoying themselves.

[donNdonelson2]

The Westin. Photo taken Sunday morning near the corner of Seventh & Peabody.

[Pyramid Scheme]

3 hours ago, Tim29tn said:

It's just rare to find anybody that cares about how everything started. Progress has its ups and downs and in this case it's definitely a down. Even in smaller towns it's happened. For example, I was born and raised in Manchester which is about an hour down interstate 24 out of Nashville. You can drive around the town square and there's nothing but mainly lawyers offices and a pawn shop. There use to be a movie theatre and other things back in the day for people to do and now the heart of the town is just sad to look at. Its not quite the same as destroying a building, but it's close enough to consider it as much. I would love to see people out and about on the town square once again and enjoying themselves.

Also, perhaps progress can take off in the wrong direction, like how we've built up this intricate road system predicated on the idea of everyone driving their own automobile, and as a result, we have almost no transit system....and furthermore, we need approach ramps instead of 19th century architecture.

[volsfanwill]

22 hours ago, fieldmarshaldj said:

that sure is a long line out in front of the court house, that must be where you had to get your drivers license back then...

also, I'm glad to see that the traffic pattern in front of the court house was as confusing then as it is now!

Edited January 31, 2016 by volsfanwill

[rookzie]

11 minutes ago, volsfanwill said:

that sure is a long line out in front of the court house, that must be where you had to get your drivers license back then...

also, I'm glad to see that the traffic pattern in front of the court house was as confusing then as it is now!

..That's where I used to cringe when getting vaccinations, as the ground floor of the Davidson Co. Court House was the location of the public health clinic before Lentz was built.  I'd start moaning as soon as my parents took me down in there, where in the hallway from outside the "shoot-up" room, one could hear the wailing and screams of other yunguns held down for that "evil needle".  The horror was induced by the sight of motion through those old dark-varnished doors with large frosted-glass windows, and the scent of rubbing alcohol rampant in the air.  An old dog never forgets the trauma of the past, even after some 63+ years. -==-

[markhollin]

Over 10,000 crammed into the Honda Stage area to hear Dierks Bentley at Winter Park for the final day of NHL All-Star Fan Fair.

 

[Vrtigo]

17 hours ago, markhollin said:

Over 10,000 crammed into the Honda Stage area to hear Dierks Bentley at Winter Park for the final day of NHL All-Star Fan Fair.

WOW! I saw the flashing lights through the Cokesbury destruction and debris from my office window, but didn't have a clue that there was so much going on just on the other side! Glad to see so much activity from the ASW.

[markhollin]

The excavation is now complete for the next block of apartments/condos going in on the southeast side of Rolling Mill Hills (overlooking the river).  Cranes are going up today according to Smeagolsfree.

 

[chris holman]

Westin today

[Paramount747]

4 hours ago, markhollin said:

The excavation is now complete for the next block of apartments/condos going in on the southeast side of Rolling Mill Hills (overlooking the river).  Cranes are going up today according to Smeagolsfree.

 

I called Ron and WW about this last night. The first crane was almost up when I left for work this morning. Not sure about the second crane.

[TNinVB]

Is it me, or do the upper floors of the Westin look like there's more space between them than the ones below? I'm talking ubout the top three floors.