Midtown in Nashville in Davidson County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

The Rock Block

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, October 18, 2020

1. The Rock Block Marker

Inscription. One of Nashville's oldest streets, Elliston Place was a popular commercial corridor by 1930. Elliston Place Soda Shop opened in 1939. In 1971 Owsley Manier and Brugh Reynolds opened the listening-room style music venue Exit/In, named for its main rear entrance. In the early 1980s the area became known as “The Rock Block,” with businesses like The End, TGI Fridays, Obie's Pizza, The Gold Rush and Mosko's shaping Elliston Place's legacy as Nashville's counterculture epicenter.

Erected 2020 by The Historical Commission of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County. (Marker Number 218.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment • Industry & Commerce • Roads & Vehicles. In addition, it is included in the Tennessee, The Historical Commission of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1930.

Location. 36° 9.074′ N, 86° 48.261′ W. Marker is in Nashville, Tennessee, in Davidson County. It is in Midtown. It is on Elliston Place just north of Louise Avenue, on the left

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when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2208 Elliston Place, Nashville TN 37203, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Middle Tennessee.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Nashville Academy of Medicine (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Governors' Mansion (about 700 feet away); Vanderbilt University (approx. 0.2 miles away); Cornelius Vanderbilt (approx. 0.2 miles away); Saint Thomas Hospital (approx. 0.2 miles away); Wallace University School (approx. ¼ mile away); Vanderbilt University Gateposts (approx. 0.3 miles away); "Miss Finnie Pearl" (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Nashville.

Also see . . . Elliston Place Soda Shop (YouTube).

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, October 18, 2020

2. The Rock Block Marker

From Nashville Public Television's Tennessee Crossroads series. (Submitted on October 20, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 20, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 1,227 times since then and 143 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 20, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.