Talk:Slave markets in Nashville, Tennessee

Two Different Sites
This article conflates two different locations: The public market house which connected two municipal buildings and sat in the Public Square, and what was probably a commercial slave market at the southwest corner of Charlotte Avenue (then Cedar Street) and 4th Avenue (then Cherry Street).

Everything down to the 1888 Memphis Avalanche article relates to the market in the Public Square. The Avalanche article is about the demolition of an old slave market two blocks west of the Public Square. The market house in the Public Square lasted until the mid 1930s when it was demolished to make room for the New Deal era courthouse.

"Another account says the building stood until the 1930s when it was demolished and replaced with the New Market-House. A historical marker was placed on the site in 2018."

That "another account" is describing another location, the market house in the Public Square, while the marker went up on the site of the commercial slave market two blocks away. I suspect (but don't know) that the young woman who spent time in a slave yard was at one of the commercial slave markets since there's no evidence of an outdoor enclosure at the city-owned market house. The clippings all mention "the Market House", so I suspect they refer to the Public Square location. It's all very confused.

No need to downplay the fact that slaves were sold at the city-owned market house, but so were other goods, and the market continued to thrive for about 70 years after emancipation. It would be nice to see a more holistic treatment of the structure, as well as a mention of its 1930s replacement, the Ben West Building.

75.107.249.44 (talk) 04:41, 6 January 2024 (UTC)


 * This 1889 insurance map shows the two locations clearly. The city-owned market house forms part of a complex with city hall, and the commercial slave market sat where the newly erected Duncan House is shown on the map: https://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15138coll23/id/10056/rec/2 75.107.249.44 (talk) 04:55, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
 * You are a hero. based on your comments I've tried to untangle it slightly, in part by just reframing it as a slave market article. you should take over Nashville Market-House (now a redirect) and create the holistic history of the building. We need you!! Wikipedia is built by enthusiasts, and I've never ever been to Nashville LOL. I'll take a look at the map. Thank you so so much for surfacing it. Cheers, jengod (talk) 06:55, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
 * OK I added the map. You should just boldly dive in there in fix everything else that's wonky. Apologies for any and all continuing errors and thank you again for your excellent and important feedback. jengod (talk) 07:08, 6 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Thank you for being so gracious, Jengod. Your edits look great!
 * I've always edited anonymously but I have just created a login, and I will see what I can do about a market house article...or a market house/city hall article, since they were physically connected structures for 105 years. WRGregg (talk) 03:17, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
 * @WRGregg WELCOME under your new username. Please come visit my talk page or tag me elsewhere if you need help w anything. very glad you're here. jengod (talk) 03:26, 7 January 2024 (UTC)