EAST SIDE STORY The neighborhood of East Nashville rebounds from a series of natural disasters thanks to its tight-knit creative community.
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n March 3, 2020 an EF3 tornado touched down in several Nashville neighborhoods and Middle Tennessee communities. It was not the first time East Nashville had been hit by a tornado. In 1933 and 1998 rotating storms blew through the same area, ripping off roofs and causing structural damage. But this time, such a storm came barreling down Main Street just 10 days before lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic. While statistically these storms have claimed relatively low fatalities, they have been significant in the damage they caused, in the rebuilding they ushered in and the way in which they underscored the neighborhood’s small-town feel in the middle of a growing city. Nothing happens in a vacuum, of course. The rebuilding after the 1998 tornado was in conjunction with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans (then the Tennessee Oilers) coming
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to town and the opening of what is now called Nissan Stadium, a major attraction that revitalized the east side of the river. In 2020, the neighborhood, dotted with small businesses, pivoted. Restaurants with intact kitchens loaned freezer space to those that lost theirs. Artists and seamstresses made masks while musicians played drivein shows so live music could continue. Since the neighborhood, city and county have rebounded, you can experience East Nashville’s tight community and off-beat esprit de corps by simply wandering its streets, many of which are lined with historical and restored homes. Should you choose to be intentional about your exploration, consider the following stops. Most of them are within walking distance of the neighborhood’s famous Five Points intersection.
©VISIT MUSIC CITY
BY MARGARET LITTMAN
