Nashville s oldest enclosed shopping center
The Nashville Arcade opened in splendor in 1903 as the city s first enclosed shopping center, decorated with flags, bunting and Japanese lanterns, according to a 1956 article in The Tennessean. Folks came from miles around to parade and rubber-neck, to receive free souvenirs many stores offered, the article states.
The project was developed by Daniel C. Buntin, a local businessman, designed by local architecture firm Thompson, Gibel and Asmus and built by the Edgefield and Nashville Manufacturing Company.
Enclosed shopping centers were gaining popularity in northern cities, and Nashville was experiencing a boom in development, innovation and creativity, according to Davidson County Historian Carole Bucy. Wholesale and retail stores on 2nd Ave. began to shift Nashville s retail center away from the public square, and the Nashville Arcade cemented that trend.