First State Penitentiary

First State Penitentiary is a Tennessee historical marker in Nashville., Davidson County.

Davidson Co., 1601 Charlotte Ave., Nashville.

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This corner was part of the original prison ground for the first Tennessee State Penitentiary. The prison stood on 10 acres between Church Street and Cedar Street, now Charlotte Avenue, from 15th Avenue westward. The prison opened on January 1, 1831, during the administration of Governor William Carroll. Leased convicts helped build the state capitol between 1845 and 1859. Heavily fortified during the Civil War Federal occupation of Nashville in 1862, the penitentiary housed military and political prisoners. The prison closed in 1898, during Governor Benton McMillin's term. In 2013 this corner was named Governors Corner in honor of those two men.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1827 · Kentucky (A. Finley, 1827) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1829 · Tennessee (A. Finley, 1829) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1832 · Kentucky (Finley, 1832) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1838 · Kentucky (T.G. Bradford, 1838) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1866 · Battlefields In Front Of Nashville. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Example

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

More markers nearby

Bethlehem Centers of Nashville 100th Anniversary (1894-1994)under 1 mi
Capers Memorial CME Churchunder 1 mi
William Edmondson (c. 1883-1951)under 1 mi
Grace M. Eaton/Grace M. Eaton Dayhomeunder 1 mi

On the National Register nearby

Capers C.M.E. Church210 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.