Historic Printer’s Alley

Long before Historic Printer’s Alley’s association with the Nashville music scene, the area around Cherry Street and Fourth Avenue was already home to some of the city’s most active saloons and nightspots. Known to locals as the Men’s Quarter, some of the best-known businesses included the Climax Saloon, the Utopia Hotel, the Southern Turf, and the Maxwell House Hotel. Frequented only by men, respectable women would avoid Cherry Street at all costs.

By the 1940s, nightclubs began opening in the area that is now called Printer’s Alley, showcasing talented performers such as Boots Randolph, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, and Dottie West. As the city’s music scene grew, so did its need for printers. By the 1960s, as many as sixty-five print shops were operating in Nashville, many of them located along what would become known as Printer’s Alley.

Although most of the print shops have long since moved from Printer’s Alley, the historic buildings that once housed these establishments still sit along Third and Fourth Avenues. The historic district's buildings include Nashville's first automobile parking garage and the city's first skyscraper. The latter, Nashville’s Life and Casualty Tower, was completed in1957, since which date many government businesses, such as the Tennessee Municipal League, have maintained their offices there.

Script written by Michelle Richoll.