Historic Nashville, Inc. Downtown Survey, 1977-1994 (bulk c.1980)
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Organized into two series: I. Downtown Survey. II. Rutledge Hill;,Series I arranged numerically by property number.,Series II arranged numerically by photograph number.

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

A number of separate collections from Historic Nashville, Inc. are housed in the Special Collections Divison, Nashville Public Library.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Negatives restricted to staff use only.

Abstract: The collection includes city directory and deed research, and photographs, comprising historical and architectural inventories of extant (c.1980) downtown Nashville buildings. A few photographs of structures in the Rutledge Hill area are also included in a separate series.

Scope and content: Series I. Downtown Survey. Documents and photographs composing a detailed architectural and historical survey of downtown Nashville buildings, c.1980. The area included in the survey is bounded on the east by the Cumberland River; on the west by 10th Avenue; on the north by the State Capitol; and on the south by Demonbreun Street. Each property generally consists of one address, or a group of addresses in the case of large or "block" buildings. Each property has been assigned a property number by Historic Nashville, Inc.

Documents contain detailed architectural descriptions; deed and city directory research; and other research notes, including some materials concerning planned publications based upon the survey. In some cases, there may be properties lacking documentation.

Photographs show front (street) views of most buildings, and frequently include front views taken from an angle to the side. Many properties also have photographs of architectural details, and occasionally side or rear views of a building. Nearly all photographs are of exteriors. Researchers are encouraged to consult photographs of adjacent addresses since these may also provide additional views of a particular property. Most photographs date from circa 1980. However, some date from the 1970s, and a few are from the summer of 1994.

Negatives and contact sheets are also included. Negatives are restricted to staff use only. Not all images from the negatives have been printed, so it may be helpful to check the appropriate contact sheet for other views of the same property.

Historic Nashville photographers kept log sheets of their work, and these are filed with the negatives. During processing by library staff, it was discovered that there were many discrepancies between the property number given on the log sheet, and the property number as ultimately designated by Historic Nashville, Inc. Corrections were made on separate copies of the log sheets, which are filed with the negatives. For convenience, a copy of the corrected log sheets are also filed with the contact sheets.

Series II. Rutledge Hill. A discrete portion of the collection, apparently unrelated to the Downtown Survey, is thirteen photographs of seven buildings in the Rutledge Hill area, near downtown Nashville. Photographs were unidentified except for the general notation "Rutledge Hill." Unlike the Downtown Survey, no documentation exists for this series. Addresses were identified and added at the time of processing in 2006 by Nashville Room volunteer Rose Mary Reed. Street addresses include Middleton Street, Rutledge Street, and Second Avenue South. The properties include former private homes converted into business offices, a laboratory building, and a fire hall converted into a private home.

Cite as: [property number], Historic Nashville Inc. Downtown Survey, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library.

Historic Nashville, Inc. transferred any copyright they held in these materials to the Public Library Board at time of donation. However, there may be some items for which they did not hold copyright, and therefore rights were not transferred to the Nashville Public Library.

Historic Nashville, Inc.;,Gift;,2003.,Acc. 2003.080.

In 1968 the Historic Sites Federation of Tennessee was formed. The name was changed to Historic Nashville, Inc. in 1974. Historic Nashville, Inc. (HNI) was organized as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a stated purpose to document and preserve the cultural, historical, and architectural heritage of Nashville. This group was instrumental in saving Union Station, the Ryman Auditorium, and many other historic buildings. For many years, they held an annual Market Street Festival to raise awareness of the historic nature of downtown's Second Avenue. In 2003, their records were donated to the Special Collections Division of the Nashville Public Library.

Finding aid available in repository;,folder level control,https://assets.library.nashville.org/documents/finding-aids/Special_Collections_Division_Finding_Aid_Hist_Nash_Downton_Survey.pdf.

Series I. Downtown Survey: a listing arranged by street address.,https://assets.library.nashville.org/documents/finding-aids/Special_Collections_Division_Finding_Aid_Hist_Nash_Downtown_Survey_by_Street.pdf.

Series I. Downtown Survey: a detailed listing arranged by property number.,https://assets.library.nashville.org/documents/finding-aids/Special_Collections_Division_Finding_Aid_Hist_Nash_Downtown_Survey_by_Prop_no.pdf.

Records created by and in the custody of Historic Nashville, Inc. until donation to the library in 2003.

Process;,2004-2006;,Becca Oberlander; Jean Muirhead; Ward DeWitt; Linda Barnickel; Rose Mary Reed.

No further accruals are expected.

Book jacket image: Property #169