Black Bottom was once a thriving and culturally rich African American neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee, near what is now downtown. The neighborhood got its name from the periodic flooding of the Cumberland River, which left behind a layer of muddy residue on the streets. Black Bottom, which began to take shape around 1832, initially served as a settlement for impoverished local whites, many of whom were European immigrants. The area was also home to some enslaved and free African Americans who worked as artisans, laborers, cooks, and servants. The free Black residents of the neighborhood competed for semi-skilled jobs with the European immigrants, and this competition, combined with racial prejudice, eventually led to the city’s first race riot in December 1856.
During the Civil War, when Union troops occupied Nashville in 1862, Black Bottom experienced a dramatic increase in population as fugitive slaves from surrounding areas sought refuge. This influx of Black residents turned the area into a crowded and dilapidated slum. The once rural neighborhood became home to saloons, brothels, and overcrowded buildings. Many of the newly arrived residents were illiterate, and most children were not attending school. By 1870, the area still had a white majority, but by 1880, the Black population outnumbered the white residents. As the white population moved out, Black residents established institutions that would define the area as an African American enclave.
By the late 19th century, Black Bottom had become an important cultural and commercial hub for African Americans in Nashville. The community was home to institutions such as the Saint Paul African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and Pearl High School, one of the first public high schools for Black students in the United States. By 1900, the neighborhood was the center of African American business life, with black-owned establishments like an ice cream factory, clothing stores, a bottling company, and funeral homes. Black Bottom also housed important medical institutions like Meharry Medical College and Mercy Hospital.
However, despite its cultural and economic vitality, the residents of Black Bottom endured poor living conditions. Residents frequently complained to city officials about the deplorable conditions in the community, including overcrowding and inadequate infrastructure.
The 1930s brought a period of decline to Black Bottom, as New Deal programs led to the construction of new schools and expanded recreational facilities at Tennessee A&I State University (now Tennessee State University). However, housing projects like the Andrew Jackson Housing Project, while initially welcomed, concentrated poverty in the area, contributing to its eventual deterioration.
After World War II, the construction of low-income housing in other parts of Nashville allowed African Americans to move out of Black Bottom, and by the 1950s, urban renewal projects and the expansion of downtown Nashville displaced many Black businesses and residents. By 1960, Black Bottom no longer existed as an African American community.
