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Photo by Allen Clark Photography.
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Photo by Allen Clark Photography.
Janet Kurtz, president of Kurtz Hospitality Marketing group and longtime downtown resident, takes a look at the history of Second Avenue, the terrifying events of Christmas morning, and the promise of the downtown’s district’s resurrection after tragedy.
Once, on a visit to Florence, Italy, I was struck by watching locals walk their dogs past the Duomo. I was possessed by the idea that this was the daily routine for those that lived here. Every day, they would walk past the palace of architectural and artistic significance like they were walking on any street in any town. But I have realized since that we, as humans, can be very good at disconnecting from our surroundings. We get lost in our own heads or our phones and forget to look up or around to take in the beauty of what is right in front of us. The same can be said for my neighborhood – downtown Nashville. Every day, just around dawn, I would walk my Labrador Retriever past the Ryman or down the historic street of Second Avenue, without really looking much past where I was walking. Every city has its Duomo, but few of us locals look up to see it.Second Avenue has a long history in Nashville. Originally a landing point for settlers traveling to ports along the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio rivers, Market Street, as it was first known, became the lifeblood of Nashville’s emerging economy. Rail shipping certainly came to Nashville, cementing the city’s place as an important distribution hub.
However, the river still remained the primary artery for commerce in post-Civil War Nashville. Here, in the 1870s, warehouses with storefronts were built to keep up with the growing demand as the city expanded. Market Street was home to printers, hardware stores, lumber dealers, and cotton and tobacco factors. On this street, the coffee beans blended by Cheek-Neal Coffee Co. (yes, the Cheek of Cheekwood) would go on to become the household brand Maxwell House Coffee. At 201-203 Second Avenue, George Dickel Distillery sold their renowned Tennessee Whiskey. There were famous (read: infamous) saloons on Market Street and one or two sensational murders in the late 1800s. Time passed and the street continued as the center of commerce for the city. However, the heyday of Second Avenue would come to an end, for a little while anyway, in the 1950s.With suburban sprawl and the malling of America, Second Avenue began a steady decline. But hope was on the way. In the 1970s preservationists and downtown pioneers began to see a vision for this historic street. Second Avenue became the first district in Nashville to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its significance as one of the longest unbroken rows of Victorian-era commercial buildings in the country. The street began to transform as new businesses, including some national brands like the Spaghetti Factory and The Melting Pot, began to move into vacant buildings. Slowly, vacant buildings became homes, and those residents became neighbors.
And this is where things begin to get interesting. Each building had its own cast of colorful characters who began to change the landscape of downtown. The vacant upper floor of the soon-to-be-named Butler’s Run became home to Steve and Judy Turner who helped change the zoning laws related to downtown living. Next, 178 Second Avenue transitioned into The Quarters where just out-of-school career seekers mixed with mid-life transitioners and everything in between. Bars such as long-gone Mulligan’s or the Drunken Fish became nightly neighborhood gathering spots. The annual Christmas parade became a block party for residents with after-parade parties that ended just as dawn was peeking over the Cumberland the next morning. Visits to neighbors’ condos and rooftop decks were, and still are, commonplace. By the mid-2000s, Second Avenue was a well-established neighborhood that just happened to invite 200,000 visitors to its street every week.Imagine, Christmas morning, the peace of the neighborhood being broken by first an eerie announcement to evacuate, and then a massive explosion. There was confusion, disbelief and shock. Residents and business owners jumped in immediately to help their neighbors, take in the displaced, and even help find missing pets as the rest of the country watched, horrified. Friends and family reached out from all over the world. For many, this was our first bombing.
But Nashville, once again, did what it always does—it stepped up. From day one, Nashville leaders like Mayor John Cooper and Councilman Freddie O’Connell began working with local leaders to help streamline the efforts for recovery. The DISTRICT, Inc. and Metro Historical Commission Foundation created a fund, 2ndavestrong, to assist with the restoration and preservation efforts for the street. Catholic Charities, Community Foundation, United Way, and many others created funds to help those businesses and individuals directly impacted by the bombing.Today, our neighborhood looks a lot different. Fencing surrounds the “Red Zone” that used to be the entrance to The Quarters and several businesses. But the neighborhood of Second Avenue is strong and will recover.
We look to the vision of the future where our historic buildings will once again be a part of the district where we create new memories instead of gazing at the heartbreaking reminders of that dreadful morning. Second Avenue will come back better than ever. Our vintage landmarks will once again be woven into the fabric of Nashville’s future. And maybe, more of us will look up from time to time. (2ndavestrong.org)