Landscape Information
Bound by the James Robertson Parkway to the north and Union Street to the south, this five-acre civic space overlooks the Cumberland River on the site of the city’s original public square created by Thomas Molloy in 1784. Historically, the square served as the city’s communal space and was also ignominiously the site of its slave market in the early nineteenth century.
The square’s northern edge is anchored by an Art Deco courthouse (1937) which is fronted by an elevated terrace flanked by two large, tiered fountains. In 1960 a peaceful demonstration, led by civil rights activist Diane Nash, terminated outside the courthouse. The protest resulted in the integration of six city lunch counters.
In 1976 the site was converted into a parking lot, and in 2003 the municipal government hired WRT and Hawkins Partners, Inc., to design a new public square. The result relocated parking underground capped by a contemporary plaza in 2008.
Characterized by a 2.5-acre oval lawn inscribed within a rectangular area, the plaza is framed by vegetated borders that define the corners of the rectangular space. Entered from the south and west via tiered stairs that ascend from the surrounding streets the plaza includes an observation deck, a memorial honoring the region’s indigenous history, and two reflecting pools that run the length of the southern end of square. Granite pylons illustrating the site’s history frame the south side of the pools, separating them from parallel gravel patios and, farther south, a series of planting beds. Several trees, including poplars and oaks, line the edges of the landscape and frame the square’s interior.
The courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 and its terrace was named for Diane Nash in 2021.
