How to get even with the Nashville Zoning Commision

This is the story of what is perhaps the biggest eyesore in Nashville, A.K.A the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue on I-65.

There is a strip of unusable land where Interstate 65 and the train tracks to the CSX Radnor Yards run parallel between Harding Pl. and Old Hickory Blvd. The owner of the land spoke to city councilmen to get the area rezoned for permission to build a storage facility here, but when nearby residents complained, the city council voted against rezoning.

The landowner was upset, but how could he get even? A sign of complaint would violate city ordinances. However, there is no law against ugly statues of persons regarded as a prominent white supremacist. (If you didn't know, Forrest was not only a notable Confederate Civil War general, but also a primary founder of the KKK. to be fair, NBF supporters claim that the KKK was not a white supremacy group until after he left the Klan, but that they were formed as a war reconstruction organization. I have no opinion on the matter.)

Atop the Bronze horse, is the silverish fiberglass Forrest with a pistol in one hand and sword in the other. He also has an expression that one makes after sitting on a thumb tack.



Other notes: In the first picture, you see several white poles. These 13 used to each have a confederate flag.
Also, in the late 90's, there was a sign which essentially said," Welcome to Nashville: Future home of the ex-Tennessee Oilers" implying that Bud Adams would move the NFL team again to the next city that gave a sweeter deal. In 2002, there was a different sign added which said "Welcome to Historic Nashville site of U.S. Army War Crimes against black southerners @ Ft. Negley 1863."
In 2002, the statue was shot at, but the General was missed and only the horse was hit. That may be another bullet hole in his knee.
Finally, in the state of Tennessee, there are more statues and memorials to Forrest, than all three of our U.S. Presidents (Jackson, Polk and Johnson) combined.