Germantown and Salemtown are adjoining neighborhoods just north of downtown Nashville, between the State Capitol area and the Cumberland River. Germantown developed in the 1850s as the first suburb in North Nashville.
Germantown is generally bounded by Jefferson Street on the south, the Cumberland River on the east, and Rosa L. Parks Boulevard (formerly Eighth Avenue North) on the west. Salemtown lies to the north around Morgan Park; the line between the two is informal.
Development
European immigrants established Germantown in the 1850s, building brick townhouses beside workers’ cottages. The Church of the Assumption on Seventh Avenue North was dedicated in 1859. After decades of decline, revitalization began in the 1970s, and Germantown was listed as a National Register historic district in 1979. The riverfront Neuhoff meatpacking plant, founded in 1906 and closed in 1977, was redeveloped as a mixed-use office, residential, and retail complex completed in 2024. In Salemtown, the former Werthan bag mill on Rosa L. Parks Boulevard has been converted to lofts.
Parks & Recreation
Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, a 19-acre park opened in 1996, extends from the Capitol toward Jefferson Street; the Tennessee State Museum opened at its northwest corner in 2018. The Nashville Farmers’ Market adjoins it on Rosa L. Parks Boulevard. First Horizon Park, home of the Nashville Sounds, opened in 2015 near the historic Sulphur Dell ballpark site. Morgan Park has a Metro community center, and the Cumberland River Greenway links MetroCenter and downtown, with spurs to Morgan Park and the Bicentennial Mall.
Transit
WeGo Routes 29 Jefferson and 42 St. Cecilia-Cumberland run on Rosa L. Parks Boulevard past the Farmers’ Market; Route 29 continues west on Jefferson Street. I-65 has an exit at Rosa L. Parks Boulevard.