Black Bottom was once a thriving and culturally rich African American neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee, near what is now downtown. The neighborhood got its name from the periodic flooding of the Cumberland River, which left behind a layer of muddy residue on the streets. Black Bottom, which began to take shape around 1832, initially served as a settlement for impoverished local whites, many of whom were European immigrants. The area was also home to some enslaved and free African Americans who worked as artisans, laborers, cooks, and servants. The free Black residents of the neighborhood competed for semi-skilled jobs with the European immigrants, and this competition, combined with racial prejudice, eventually led to the city’s first race riot in December 1856.
