Take The Curious Nashville Learning Tour

Are you a curious Nashvillian in search of an unconventional tour of some of our city’s stranger sites? If so, we have a fabulous option for you.

Our Curious Nashville podcast has sent our team all over Nashville exploring some of the oddest, oldest and often historical places or sites that have caused our readers to ask us, “What is that and why is it there?”

We invite you to listen or read the episode and then visit the site to see for yourself what has inspired others to ask us to investigate. Discover a side of Nashville you did not know was there, and learn a little while you go. Be safe and have fun.

Stop 1: Nashville City Cemetery
Episode: A Tombstone Mystery About Who ‘Turned From Bloodkin’
Where: Nashville City Cemetery, 1001 4th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37210
Listen

Stop 2: The Dragon Park
Episode: How A Mosaic Dragon Became A Neighborhood Mascot Near Vanderbilt
Where: Fannie Mae Dees Park, 2400 Blakemore Ave., Nashville, TN 37212
Listen

Stop 3: Nuclear Fallout Shelter
Episode: What’s Inside the Old Governor’s Fallout Shelter In The Woods?
Where: Abandoned State Fallout Shelter, 8865 Griffith Road, Nashville, TN (private property, but visible)
Listen

Stop 4: Secret Tunnels
Episode: Tunnels That Live Up To The Legends, And Some That Don’t
Where: Large storm tunnels — viewable from a distance. Visit Cumberland Park, 592 S. 1st St., Nashville, TN, and look across the river toward Ascend Amphitheater, or 1000 Apex St., Nashville, TN, to see major stormwater tunnels.
Listen

Stop 5: The Park Sign
Episode: Why Is There A Road Sign In The Middle Of Percy Warner Park?
Where: Percy Warner Park, Warner Woods Trail, the white trail on this map and accessible through the first trailhead inside the Deep Well Entrance off Highway 100
Map
Read

Stop 6: A Giant Clamshell And A Ship
Episode: How One Man’s Fascination With Concrete Led To An Odd Pair Of Park Monuments
Where: Centennial Park lawn area between West End Avenue and 25th Avenue North
Read

Stop 7: The Tracks
Episode: 100 Years Later, Nashville Remembers The Deadly Train Crash At Dutchman’s Curve
Where: Richland Creek Greenway Trailhead at White Bridge Pike
Listen

Stop 8: Geodesic Dome
Episode: What’s With The Golden Domed Bank On Charlotte Pike?
Where: 5100 Charlotte Ave., Nashville, TN 37209
Read

Stop 9: Pinkie
Episode: The Story Behind the Pink Elephant on Charlotte Pike
Where: 6005 Charlotte Pike, Nashville, TN 37209
Read 

Stop 10: Randee
Episode: An Easily Overlooked Building Is Named After A Remarkable Advocate
Where: 1419 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208. Note: the original building was demolished and is being replaced. The site is currently under construction, and the new building will be named after the same activist.
Listen

Site 11: Accidental Park
Episode: How An Engineering Failure Led To A Riverfront Park
Where: 1530 Lock Road, Nashville, TN 37207
Read

Site 12: Makeshift Hospital From An Orphanage
Episode: The Complicated Past Of A Historic Tuberculosis Hospital
Where: 630 Hart Lane, Nashville, TN (closed, but easily viewable)
Listen