Nashville Municipal Dock

A step off the boat just up Broadway from the Nashville Municipal Docks is Hard Rock CafÚ and this sets the tone for the lower east side. The neighborhood is 19th-century cotton storage and warehouse buildings that face the river. This is First Avenue, the wharf of 19th-century Nashville when the river was Main Street and everything that came to the city came by water. In 1819 the steamboat General Jackson opened the way for trade with cities such as New Orleans and Pittsburgh. First Avenue still looks like a working waterfront, but recent developments have created a playground for tourists and boaters. The first thing you see overhead from the Nashville Municipal Dock is the Shelby Walking Bridge that ties the Coliseum side of the Cumberland River to downtown.