New Nashville Newspaper Looks Back

A new Nashville newspaper is in town, but instead of trying to scoop its competitors, its aim is to take readers back in time.

The first edition of the Nashville Retrospect Newspaper hit the streets in early July with headlines from 1845, 1866, 1927, and 1969. The articles are reprints from newspapers long gone like The Nashville Banner and The Colored Tennessean.

Publisher Allen Forkum says response to the first issue has been good.

“We’re getting a lot of calls and emails and letters of people relating their memories of Nashville. That’s why I say it’s about history and nostalgia, because I look at nostalgia as history people can remember, and if we can get some of that in every issue, then we’ll have something that people enjoy reading.”

Though most of the articles are reprints from decades ago, there is new content from contributing writers on the history of Nashville. Every issue also includes a map depicting old street names and a profile of some the city’s oldest homes.

The Nashville Retrospect is free. Its costs are supported by ads. That has been a challenge in the newspaper industry as a whole, but Forkum hopes some of the city’s oldest companies take a cue from its historical bent and advertise in the paper.

The August edition of the paper was distributed over the weekend.