Nretrospect: Looking Back at the History of Green Hills

Less than a century ago, the area now known as Green Hills was a pastoral setting with open fields, uninterrupted vistas and grazing cattle. Pictured here is Fairview, the elegant home of Mrs. Wilbur F. Foster and Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey C. Foster. With deep porches, established trees and lots of land, it was located at the corner of Hillsboro Road and Abbott Lane, as the streets were then called. Not long after Fairview was built, a new neighborhood bordered by Belmont Boulevard and Shackleford Road was created for city residents wanting to “escape to the country.” Its name? Green Hills. That name eventually came to represent the entire area. Today, the neighborhood is a popular retail destination, a high-rise pierces the skyline and a Walgreens commands the corner at Hillsboro Pike and Abbott Martin Road, where Fairview once stood.

Photograph courtesy of Nashville Public Library Metro Nashville Archives, circa 1925