One of
Nashville's best kept secrets, this old
tower is one of the coolest spots from which the city can be seen. Its location at almost the very end of
Davidson County on
Charlotte Pike means that it is actually perched on the
rim of the
basin in which the city of Nashville sits. On a clear night, you can see literally the entire city, from the
Batman building downtown to the
godawful Martian-
brothel-like
glow of the
Hollywood 27 at
Hundred Oaks to the "
Dog-in-a-Paper-Bag" Church in the Goodlettsville area. If you manage to be at the right place at the right time, you can even witness a
storm rolling in over the city, an amazing sight to say the least, if highly
dangerous to
witness from the top of the tower.
Its actual history is only speculative, as the people who regularly scale the thing and therefore are in a position to care are in no position to ask the actual property owners any questions about it due to the fact that they are trespassing brazenly. A few things can be said for sure, though. It is clearly a tower that was at one point used for watching the surrounding forest for fires, hence its name. The paint is now peeling and the plot of land it sits on with a barn-like building of some sort (it's always too dark there to see what it actually is when I've been there) is being slowly reabsorbed into the forest as grass pokes through the gravel. It doesn't appear to be structurally dangerous, although I've no idea whatsoever how I would tell if it was.
Its remote location also makes it attractive for less spectacular roles, too, though. One might find high-schoolers having sex or doing drugs or anything else that they can't do in their parents' house on any given night. Why a person would want to do any sort of drug there is beyond me, though, as the Blair Witch Project-like atmosphere that the place attains after dark is enough to freak me out when I'm sober. Although there are no ghost stories (that I've heard, at least) specifically about the place, it's hard to believe that nothing creepy has ever happened there when you're stuck a hundred feet in the air on an old rickety tower wondering what you'll do when you hear steps on the stairs below you that represent the only possible escape route. Make sure you're not the jumpy type if you plan to go here.