Nashville History Corner

FROM BALD HILL TO LOVE CIRCLE

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

The families who lived in the settlements along the Cumberland River were dependent on game to survive. Many of the men hunted along Richland Creek. Those that did were well aware of a 750-foot hill about three miles from town on the south side of what became known as the Richland Creek Road (now Harding Road). Because of the lack of vegetation on its crest, they called the hill “Bald Hill.”

In December 1864, Federal General George G. Thomas’ outer defense line ran west from the Hillsboro Pike beside what we know today as Love Circle, before crossing what was then called the Richland Turnpike. This hill was the tallest in Nashville in 1910 when lots were laid out around its perimeter and houses built. The City of Nashville purchased 8.33 acres on the crest of the hill in 1926 in order to build a 200,000 gallon reservoir beneath the top of the hill.

The ground around the hill became a small public park. The park’s first supervisor was a man named Mettau. Initially, the park was named for him, but for many years it has been known as Love Circle because the city bought it from John R. Love, but it’s become a double entendre because generations of young couples have enjoyed parking there at night to get to know one another.