What Is the History of Germantown Nashville?
- 2 sections
- 1 table
- 2 sources cited
Germantown was built by German immigrants in the mid-1800s, faded after World War I, and was revived by preservation from the 1970s on. Wikipedia says immigrants from Germany began building homes there in the 1840s, that the area was established as Germantown in the 1850s, and that it is Nashville’s oldest neighborhood (Wikipedia). A history in the Nashville Historical Newsletter describes a German community that “began flourishing heartily in the 1840s”. Its residents blended with Irish, Italian, Swiss, and Jewish neighbors, and many of them worked as butchers who sold to the Nashville Market House (Nashville Historical Newsletter). The Catholic Church of the Assumption was founded in 1859. The decline began early in the 1900s, when streetcars and cars drew residents away from walk-to-town neighborhoods. World War I deepened it. The same history quotes local wartime suggestions that citizens “kill their dachshunds” and says Barth Memorial Church moved from German sermons to English-only services. Germantown was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 1, 1979.
Germantown Timeline
| Period | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1840s | German immigrants begin building homes |
| 1850s | the area is established as Germantown |
| 1859 | the Catholic Church of the Assumption is founded |
| by 1915 | residents begin leaving as streetcars and cars spread |
| World War I | anti-German feeling; German-language church services end |
| 1970s | a Metropolitan Historical Commission study finds many structures intact |
| August 1, 1979 | Germantown Historic District is listed on the National Register |
| 1980 | Church of the Assumption and Monroe Street United Church hold Nashville's first Oktoberfest |
Sources: Wikipedia, Germantown Historic District; Nashville Historical Newsletter, “The Rebirth of Germantown” (written in 2001, posted October 20, 2021).
The Neighborhood Today
- Boundaries: Wikipedia gives Jefferson Street, Third Avenue North, Taylor Street, and Eighth Avenue North, covering 18 city blocks. The 2001 history calls it an “eight-block area”; the two sources do not agree on size.
- Architecture: Italianate, Stick, Eastlake, and Queen Anne homes, built between the 1840s and the 1920s.
- Revival: the Germantown Association and new residents restored houses after the 1979 listing.
If you plan to renovate a house here, check with the Metro Historic Zoning Commission about local historic rules first. The neighborhood’s architecture is in the architectural styles that blend together in Germantown, and the market next door is in what the Nashville Farmers Market is.