Davidson County · Middle Tennessee
Living in Historic Edgefield
Historic Edgefield is the closest East Nashville pocket to downtown, sitting immediately across the Cumberland River by way of the Woodland Street Bridge. It is Nashville’s oldest protected historic neighborhood and carries the strictest design rules in the city.
- County
- Davidson
- Distance to downtown Nashville
- ~1 mile
- Design review
- Historic Preservation overlay, the strictest tier
What’s actually there
- A National Register historic district listed in 1977, with housing built in two waves, roughly 1850 to 1874 and 1900 to 1924
- Italianate, Stick, Eastlake and Queen Anne architecture on the surviving blocks
- East Park and the East Park Community Center on Woodland Street
- Walking distance to the Woodland Street Bridge and downtown
- Four blocks west of the Five Points restaurant and music strip
The housing stock
Two build periods sit side by side here, roughly 1850 to 1874 and 1900 to 1924, in Italianate, Stick, Eastlake and Queen Anne. The reputation is grander than the reality in places, because the Great Fire of 1916 destroyed more than five hundred houses on these blocks, so the surviving fabric is patchier than people expect and there is modern infill mid-block. Zip 37206 showed a median sold price of $644,500 in May 2026 according to RealtyTrac, though that covers the whole zip rather than this pocket alone.
Getting around
Roughly one mile to downtown, five to ten minutes off-peak, and genuinely walkable across the Woodland Street Bridge. It is the shortest commute of any neighborhood on this site.
Things to do in Historic Edgefield
Places worth knowing before you decide whether you want to live here.
East Park
Neighborhood park at 700 Woodland Street.
East Park Community Center
Metro Parks facility at 600 Woodland Street.
Woodland Street Bridge
The 1886 river crossing that built this neighborhood, still the walking route into downtown.
Butcher and Bee
902 Main Street.
Edley’s Bar-B-Que
1004 Woodland Street.
Sky Blue Cafe
700 Fatherland Street, the neighborhood breakfast counter.
Yeast Nashville
805 Woodland Street, a bakery and brunch room.
Checked against each business as of August 14, 2026. Nashville loses restaurants faster than most cities, so if something here has closed since, tell me and I’ll get it corrected.
Subdivisions and named developments in Historic Edgefield
Once you are actually looking, you stop searching by city and start searching by subdivision. These are the names that come up, and what is true about each one that will still be true in three years. No prices, no dues, no days on market, because those change and this page would go stale telling you about them.
The Edgefield historic preservation overlay
The strictest tier of protection Nashville applies, and the only one of its kind in East Nashville.
- A historic preservation overlay, not a conservation overlay. It reviews new construction, additions, demolition, relocation, signage, and repairs and alterations to what is already there. Materials and paint are reviewed. Interiors are not.
- That is a real difference. A conservation overlay, which is what the rest of East Nashville has, reviews only new construction, additions, demolition and relocation. It does not touch your siding or your windows.
- Nashville’s first historic zoning district, established 1978. The overlay of record is carried by ordinance O90-1399. Metro’s own documents give both dates, so I am giving you both rather than picking.
- If you are buying here to renovate, this is the single most consequential fact about the property, and it applies before you pull a permit.
Edgefield Land Company additions, No. 1 through No. 5
The plats that built most of the neighborhood, recorded across fifteen years.
- No. 1 recorded April 25, 1890, No. 2 on February 14, 1891, No. 3 on March 10, 1891, and No. 5 on October 18, 1905. The No. 4 plat carries a date that fails against its own plat book sequence, so I will not print one for it.
- About 328 parcels carry an Edgefield Land Company legal description, and every one of them is in 37206.
- They are small: 320 of the 328 are under a quarter acre, and 47 are under fifteen hundredths. That is 97 percent of the plat on a quarter acre or less.
- That lot size is the reason the streets feel the way they do, and it is permanent.
The pre-Civil War and Reconstruction additions
The oldest recorded ground in this guide, and it predates the Edgefield Land Company by thirty years.
- John Shelby’s Second Addition recorded November 5, 1859. Williams Addition to Edgefield recorded August 1, 1865, three months after the war ended.
- Payne Addition to Edgefield recorded May 8, 1866. East Edgefield Addition recorded January 4, 1874.
- Dr. V.S. Lindsley’s Addition recorded September 2, 1889, Ordway Home Place on June 16, 1888, and Armstrong’s resubdivision of East Edgefield on October 5, 1889.
- These names appear in the deed and the title commitment rather than in the listing, which is why most buyers never see them until closing.
Edgefield Historic District, National Register
An honor, not a restriction, and people conflate it with the overlay constantly.
- Listed on the National Register on July 13, 1977, reference number 77001263. The first residential district in Nashville to be listed.
- Roughly bounded by Woodland Street, South 10th Street, Shelby Avenue and South 5th Street, about twelve blocks.
- A National Register listing restricts nothing a private owner does. Metro says so in its own handbook.
- And the two boundaries are not the same. Metro’s own design guidelines warn that the National Register district and the historic zoning district are separate entities with different lines. Which one your house is in decides whether anyone reviews your plans.
Flood exposure, in context
The river is four blocks away, so here is the actual number.
- The 2010 flood damaged structures on about 13 parcels in the Edgefield area, the highest of the historic East Nashville neighborhoods, which fits its proximity to the Cumberland at Shelby Avenue.
- Across zip 37206 as a whole, about 246 of roughly 12,268 parcels were damaged, which is about two percent.
- For contrast, zip 37213, the low-lying East Bank, had about 55 of its 130 parcels damaged, roughly forty-two percent.
- The historic neighborhoods sit on the bluff and were largely spared. The bottom land was not. That is the honest shape of flood risk on this side of the river, and it still does not replace pulling the FEMA panel on a specific address.
Schools
Metro Nashville Public Schools
Look up an address with the district →
Served by Metro Nashville Public Schools. Metro assigns a zoned school by address and runs a separate choice and magnet application alongside it. Zones in this part of town are actively being redrawn, so run the specific address through the district’s own Zone Finder rather than relying on a cluster name you read somewhere.
I publish district and school zoning as published fact and nothing more. No ratings, no rankings, no comparisons. School zones are set by the district, assigned by address rather than by subdivision or city name, and they change. Confirm any address with the district itself, and evaluate the schools yourself against what matters to your family.
What a buyer needs to know here
This is the one that costs people money. Edgefield carries a full Historic Preservation zoning overlay, which is the strictest tier Metro has, and it reviews routine exterior work as well as construction. In practice: original windows must be retained and replacements must match the design and dimensions, original wood siding must be preserved, and vinyl, aluminum and hardboard siding are prohibited. Additions must go at the rear and must be smaller, shorter and thinner than the original house. Enclosing a front porch is not permitted. Two things people get wrong: the zoning overlay is larger than the National Register district, and National Register listing on its own restricts nothing. It is the overlay that controls. Confirm the overlay status of the exact parcel before you write an offer, and budget for wood windows.
Common questions
What can I change on a house in Historic Edgefield?
Less than you think, and that is the whole point of buying here. Edgefield has a Historic Preservation zoning overlay, the strictest kind, and it reviews routine exterior repairs as well as additions and demolition. Original windows have to stay or be matched, original wood siding has to be preserved, and vinyl and aluminum siding are not allowed. Painting wood is exempt. Price the wood windows into your offer, not after.
Is being on the National Register the same as being in a historic overlay?
No, and this trips up almost every buyer. National Register listing is an honor and imposes no restrictions on what you do to your house. The zoning overlay is what carries the rules. In Edgefield the overlay is actually larger than the National Register district, so a house can be outside the register and still fully regulated. Check the parcel, not the reputation.
How close is Historic Edgefield to downtown?
About a mile, and you can walk it over the Woodland Street Bridge. It is the shortest commute of anywhere I write about.
Thinking about Historic Edgefield?
What are some of your must haves to make it a perfect home for you in this neighborhood?