The Village Green Building
~ story and photo by Jeff Tryon
For over a century, the Village Green Building at 61 West Main Street has stood as a silent witness and major participant in the life and history of Nashville. In that time, it has served as an important civic space, housing fraternal lodges, essential businesses, and the artists and shops that have become the economic backbone of the town.
For most of its existence, it was Brown County’ s“ skyscraper,” the only three-story building in the county.
The town was experiencing an economic boom in the early 1900s, and fraternal lodges, including the Masons and the Knights of Pythias, were also thriving.
In 1906, the Nashville Masonic lodge decided to build its first permanent home in its 58 years of existence, purchasing lot 117 in the old town plat from William A. Mason for $ 250. In 1909, one of the most disastrous fires in Nashville history destroyed the nearby Knights of Pythias hall, along with many buildings to the east and south. The Knights worked out a deal with the Masonic lodge for a joint fraternity building.
30 Our Brown County • Sept./ Oct. 2018
The result was a three-story brick building which, when completed and occupied in 1910, was by far the largest building in Brown County.
The two lodges occupied separate halls on the third floor, while the second floor was rented out as office space, including doctor’ s offices, and the first floor to merchants.
One of the early tenants of the east half of the first floor was the old Calvin Brothers Hardware store, operated by Dennis and Duard Calvin for more than 40 years. The west half of the first floor had a succession of tenants, including the newspaper, the post office, and a restaurant.
During the depression years of the 1930s, the Knights of Pythias ceased to be an active lodge, although their crest still adorns the building.
The Masonic signs and symbols embellish the front of the building, but by 1956, the lodge was once more planning a new home. The old hall was considered rickety, inconvenient, and no longer adequate. The building was sorely in need of repair and extensive renovation.
In 1960, the Village Green Building was sold to Kirk Bassett of Columbus, who had a vision for what the building should be and the wherewithal to give it a thorough facelift.