Nashville: From the Collection of Carl and Otto Giers (Images of America: Tennessee)
by James A. Hoobler
Category: History

A center of New South industry and expansion, Nashville has enjoyed a long and unusual history, from its time as a budding pioneer community to its development as the Volunteer State's capital city. The prolific work of two visionary nineteenth-century photographers, a father and his adopted son, has truly captured a Nashville of bygone times, when the city was the home of presidents, a site for both Confederate and Union occupation, and a place of flourishing architectural tastes and cultures. Nashville: From the Collection of Carl and Otto Giers chronicles the work and talent of Carl and Otto Giers, two photographers who enjoyed a long-lasting love affair with their hometown. Both were interested in recording their personal Nashville, which was constantly changing due to the pressures of their times: war, Reconstruction, urban development, and many community "improvements," which tore down historic buildings for new businesses and buildings. This volume, with over 200 striking images, showcases their combined work in preserving Nashville's unique heritage from 1855 to the turn of the century. A fascinating visual history, Nashville: From the Collection of Carl and Otto Giers takes you on an incredible tour through the city's many historic landmarks, such as The Hermitage, Belle Meade mansion, Belmont plantation, and the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, and allows you to experience first-hand the street scenes, the different fashions of the nineteenth century, and the cityscapes and landscapes from Union occupation to the late 1890s.