Product Description

Known today as the Country Music Capital of the World, Nashville was first settled by Native Americans as early as 8000 BC. French fur traders arrived around 1717, and by 1779, 'Fort Nashborough' was officially established. In 1843, the settlement, now renamed 'Nashville,' became the capital of Tennessee. Since its early days, Nashville has had a colorful history, surviving both the Civil War and two cholera epidemics. This city, once home to Daniel Boone and President Andrew Jackson, is now home to the Grand Ole Opry. With side-by-side archival and contemporary photos, Nashville Then and Now gives readers a visual tour of the city's most enduring landmarks, like the Parthenon, built for the Tennessee Centennial in 1897, and Andrew Jackson's Hermitage.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #87481 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781592235032
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

Photo Journal is both nostalgic and contemporary
Long-time Nashville residents remember the city during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, when downtown was a bustling business district, especially Church Street and Fifth Avenue.

There were various department stores (Harvey's, Castner-Knott, Cain-Sloan, Montgomery-Ward, Sears-Roebuck, Grant's, and Loveman's), five-and-ten-cent stores (Woolworth, McLellans, and Kress), and movie theaters (Paramount, Tennessee, Fifth Avenue, Knickerbocker, Loews, and Crescent). This was at a time before the exodus of such establishments to suburban shopping malls.

Using some extraordinary images from the city's past, paired with the same views today, Nashville Then and Now offers a visual tour of the city's most enduring landmarks, showing how the city has developed over the years.

With side-by-side archival and contemporary photos, the book shows the Parthenon in Centennial Park, a building constructed for the Tennessee Centennial in 1897; Andrew Jackson's Hermitage; and homes and businesses in Germantown (north of the Capitol) and Edgefield (East Nashville).

During the Civil War, writes the author, Nashville was "the most heavily fortified city in North America," a key supply base for the Union army's campaigns in the western theater. The book's cover features a picture of the state's Capitol taken in 1862, showing Union troops camped on the grounds.

Another photo compares the original Fort Negley, built in 1862 on St. Cloud Hill, with the restored fort, which was opened to the public in Dec. 2004. In the background is the modern skyline of Nashville.

The text was written by Karina McDaniel, a Nashville resident who came to Tennessee from her native Germany by way of Brazil and Waterloo, Alabama. McDaniel operates the photographic section for the Tennessee State Library and Archives specializing in the restoration, reproduction and preservation of historic photographs and documents.

Contemporary photographs were taken by Aubrey Watson, a lifelong resident of Nashville. Watson is a freelance photographer, lecturer and writer whose work has been published in books, magazines, corporate annual reports and advertisements.

The Andrew Jackson Hotel stood at the southeast corner of Sixth Avenue North and Deaderick Street. With 350 rooms, the 12-storey building, at that time the largest hotel in Tennessee, was equipped "with every known modern convenience including a luxurious bath and telephone." It was demolished on June 13, 1971.

The 240-room, six-storey Maxwell House Hotel opened for business in 1869 and advertised steam heat, gas lighting, and a bath on every floor. It was destroyed by fire on Christmas night 1961.

The Hermitage Hotel, Nashville's first million-dollar hotel, which opened in 1910 and advertised its rooms as "fireproof, dustproof, and soundproof, with prices starting at $2 a night."

Other photos show the Ryman Auditorium, the "mother church" of country music, which was for many years the home of the Grand Ole Opry; Music Row on 16th Ave. South; and, in the shadow of the Capitol, "Hell's Half Acre," the city's red-light district, where prostitution, bootleg whiskey, and gambling houses flourished.

Sites of interest along Broad Street are Tootsie's Orchard Lounge, the Ernest Tubb record shop, the U.S. Customs House, Hume-Fogg High School, and Union Station.

Among the stately homes pictured are Woodlawn, Sunnyside, Cheekwood, the Belle Meade Mansion, Traveller's Rest, the Grassmere/Croft House, and the Belmont Mansion. We also see Jubilee Hall at Fisk Univ. and Kirkland Hall at Vanderbilt Univ.

My biggest disappointment? No photo is shown of Sulphur Dell, the home of the Nashville Vols, a Double-A baseball team in the Southern League. I have many fond memories from the 40s and 50s, when my dad took me to watch the likes of Charlie Workman, Charlie Gilbert, "Tookie" Gilbert, Smoky Burgess, Carl Sawatski, Pete Mallory, Babe Barna, and Buster Boguskie.

Nashville Then and Now is a delightful nostalgic photojournal of "the Athens of the South" and "Music City, USA."

Roy E. Perry of Nolensville, Tennessee, is an advertising copywriter at a Nashville publishing house.

Very Well Done
An excellent visual overview of historic downtown Nashville.

With just enough dialog to provide perspective, Nashville Then and Now lets the photos do the talking. Whether you are a newcomer to Nashville, a visitor or a long-time resident who wants to look back "at the days when", this book provides an interesting overview.

In hardcover, it is a great coffeetable volume and conversation starter.

Nashville Then (As I knew It) and Now
As one born and raised in Nashville, I feel eminently qualified to review this book. The photo quality of the "Now" pages is excellent. The photo quality of the "Then" pages is excellent, considering the age of some of the pictures, such as the one of the capitol building that dates to Civil War time. If you are from Nashville, thinking of moving there or just want to see what many scenes in the town looked like in the past and today, this book is an excellent choice. You can't beat the price, either. Some of the "Then" scenes, I remember from my childhood. An excellent job all around.