HISTORY OF PRINTER'S ALLEY

Printer's Alley takes its name from its early connection with Nashville's printing and publishing industry, then located in the immediate area. The alley also became the center of the city's nightlife and serviced the hotels, restaurants, and saloons fronting on Fourth Avenue, which was known as the Men's Quarter in the late nineteenth century.

Nightclubs opened here in the 1940s, and the alley became a showcase for the talents of performers such as Boots Randolph, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, and Dottie West. This historic district's architecture includes elegant late Victorian styles, Nashville's first automobile parking garage, and the city's first "skyscraper."

Although the Printers have long since gone, The World Famous Printers Alley still remains, providing a Flair of Bourbon Street . Located between Third and Fourth Avenues stretching from Union to Church Streets, the Alley started before the turn of the century as the location of many of Nashville's first Publishing and Printing Companies.

Without the Country Musical influences, Nashville could have possibly been known as the Printing Capitol of the World. As late as the 1960's, Nashville was home to over 36 Printing Companies and many other numerous Businesses, whose roles were to support and supply the massive industry.

Printer's Alley History continued...