Roadside neon signs are part of a new list of endangered historic sites in and around Nashville. Historic Nashville Inc. released the “Nashville Nine” Wednesday after taking nominations over the summer.
The colorful outdoor electric signs include one in front of East Nashville’s Weiss Liquors on Main Street. Others advertise the Donut Den in Green Hills and Loveless Café on Highway 100.
David Price chairs the Historic Nashville board and says historians are just coming to recognize neon signs as significant.
“People don’t realize or consider, necessarily realize, that they’re historic. But they do often meet the age guidelines for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. They are also fun landmarks that people love, that they are naturally drawn to.”
Price says Historic Nashville is encouraging a city ordinance to protect old neon signs.
Other sites listed in the Nashville Nine are Charlotte Avenue Church of Christ, built in 1921. The building is vacant and on the market after plans to tear it down and build a Rite Aid Pharmacy were dropped.
The Arcade post office, which is slated to close, made the list. So did Mt. Olivet Cemetery’s chapel. Historians believe it was designed by the same man who drew up plans for Ryman Auditorium.
Historic Nashville has been dormant for nearly a decade. The organization made a name for itself by helping save Ryman Auditorium from demolition in 1994.
See all of the Nashville Nine endangered sites.
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