For nearly fifty years, the Metropolitan Historical Commission has recognized outstanding efforts to preserve Nashville’s historic architecture with its annual Preservation Awards program. For a list and map of previous award winners, from 1973 to the present, please visit the Preservation Awards dataset on Metro Nashville's Open Data Portal.
Please join the Metropolitan Historical Commission for the 50th Annual Preservation Awards, celebrating the best in Nashville’s historic preservation! The milestone event takes place on Tuesday, May 12, at 4:30 p.m., at the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, Free & Accepted Masons, 100 Seventh Avenue North.
Along with celebrating exceptional preservation projects, the Historical Commission will present three honor awards during the ceremony. The Commission will recognize the outstanding career of Zada Law with the Achievement Award. The Commission will present its Commissioners’ Award to the Jefferson Street Historical Society and will celebrate the contributions of Phil Claiborne with the Fletch Coke Award.
Following the ceremony, the Nashville Historical Foundation and Preserve Nashville will co-host a reception honoring fifty years of this beloved program and welcoming our new Executive Director, Caroline Eller. Nashville First Baptist Church (108 Seventh Avenue South) has generously offered complimentary parking for event guests in the church's parking lots on 7th Avenue South during the awards ceremony and reception.
Since 1973, over 400 awards have gone to a broad range of historic structures – dwellings, churches, commercial and industrial buildings, schools, even to bridges and new developments. Nominated by the public, they are honored for their sensitivity to the original architecture and the surrounding environment, creativity in adaptation for contemporary use, architectural merit and/or historic interest, long-term maintenance, adherence to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, and pioneering spirit. The public awards ceremony coincides with National Preservation Month, which is sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and celebrated every year in May. The theme for Preservation Month 2026 is "All People are Created Equal" to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
For accessibility and more information, please call 615-862-7970 or email [email protected].
Invitation to the 2026 Preservation Awards
The Metropolitan Historical Commission’s Preservation Awards program began in 1973 as an Architectural Awards program. Miss Margaret Lindsley Warden, a charter member and former chair of the Metropolitan Historical Commission, had the idea to create an incentive for people to preserve historic buildings. She had observed how successful prizes were in horse shows and had heard of similar awards programs for preservation of buildings in other cities.
In 1973, the purpose was stated as:
The awards were originally aimed at residences, but the categories have increased as the need arose. In 1973 the categories included dwellings, offices, and historic districts. In 1997 those properties were expanded to six categories: residences (both single and multi-family structures), commercial buildings, religious properties, educational and institutional buildings, engineering and industrial structures, and infill construction.
Since 1973, over 400 awards have gone to a broad range of historic structures – dwellings, churches, commercial and industrial buildings, schools, even to bridges and new developments. Nominated by the public, they are honored for their sensitivity to the original architecture and the surrounding environment, creativity in adaptation for contemporary use, architectural merit and/or historic interest, long-term maintenance, adherence to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, and pioneering spirit. The public awards ceremony coincides with National Preservation Month, which is celebrated every year in May.
Today, in addition to recognizing various preservation projects, the Commission recognizes individuals and groups with a select number of honor awards, including the Achievement and Commissioners’ Awards.
The Achievement Award is given to an individual in recognition of his/her extraordinary leadership in preserving Nashville’s history -- either through research and writing history or through advocacy and raising public awareness of history and preservation. The Commissioners' Award recognizes a group, program, or project that enhances Nashville’s history and historic resources. It is designed to honor projects that do not fit within the traditional preservation award categories. Achievement and Commissioners’ Awards are selected by the Historical Commission. In 2016, the Commission introduced the Fletch Coke Award, named in honor of Fletch Coke and her extraordinary efforts to preserve the history and historic landmarks of Nashville and Davidson County. Recipients are selected for their tenacity, curious spirit, and excellence in historical research, writing, and promotion of Nashville's local history and historic places.
In the early years, the Commission held a separate event to recognize various individuals, groups, and projects that were involved in the preservation of the built environment and the promotion of our local history. Eventually, the two awards programs were combined. In recent years, the name of the new program changed to “Preservation Awards” to acknowledge the diversity of individuals, groups, and types of projects receiving awards.
Nominations for the 51st Annual Preservation Awards program are due on Monday, March 1, 2027. Please email [email protected] for details.
For more information about the Preservation Awards program, please call the Metropolitan Historical Commission at 615-862-7970 or email [email protected].
