National Register of Historic Places
Federal Office Building
Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee
The record
- Listed
- September 9, 2016
- Type
- Building
- Address
- 801 Broadway, Nashville
- County
- Davidson
- State
- Tennessee
- Contributing resources
- 1 building
- Coordinates
- 36.15830, -86.78254
- Reference number
- 16000739
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
The story
Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com
The Federal Office Building at 801 Broadway in Nashville, Davidson County, was listed in the National Register in 2016. It was built from 1949 to 1952, with an annex added from 1968 to 1974, combining Simplified Classical and Modern Movement styles.
Why it's listed
It was listed under criteria A, B and C, with local-level significance in architecture, politics and government from 1949 to 1952, matching its construction. Court first convened there in 1952, and a $1.2 million renovation by the U.S. General Services Administration began in 1977.
Physical character
The eight-story building has a concrete-and-steel frame faced in buff-colored limestone panels and stands 188 feet high. Its lobby and courtrooms feature marble wainscot, terrazzo floors, wood paneling, aluminum grilles, bronze relief sculptures and flagpoles topped with bronze eagles. The 1968-1974 annex added pre-cast concrete panel walls, and its entrance later received bronze-framed doors around 2004.
Historical context
A site at Broadway and Eighth Avenue was selected in 1946, and floor plans were unveiled in 1949. Gilbert Stanley Underwood, who had moved to Washington in 1934 as a consulting architect, served as Supervising Architect within the Federal Works Agency from 1945 to 1949. In 1979 the building was rededicated and renamed for Estes Kefauver.