WEST END NASHVILLE: AWESOME EATS, HIP VENUES, & SURPRISING PLACES TO STAY

Without Vanderbilt University, the Nashville West End as you know it would not exist.

It was the driving force behind the development of the West End neighborhood.

Proposed by the Methodist Episcopal Church South as a regional university for the training of ministers, Nashville was selected as the location for "Central University" following lobbying by Nashville bishop Holland Nimmons McTyeire.

However building of the college was delayed due to lack of funds following the Civil War.  That was until bishop McTyeire visited Cornelius Vanderbilt at his residence in New York in 1873.

Cornelius Vanderbilt, who was the wealthiest man in the United States at the time, at the time had been planning to establish a university on Staten Island in New York, in honor of his mother.

However, McTyeire convinced him to donate $500,000 to endow Central University  instead, in order to "contribute to strengthening the ties which should exist between all sections of our common country."

Vanderbilt's endowment was eventually increased to $1 million - approximately $20 million in today's money. The university stands as one of only two causes Vanderbilt ever contributed to before his death in 1877.

While he never asked for the College to bear his name, the school was rechristened Vanderbilt University after more fruitful lobbying by McTyeire following Vanderbilt's death.

The College's history is a colorful one with some growing pains along the way, too. (Ask some old-timers about the infamous Methodist Church demolition, and you'll likely get an ear full.)

Fast forward to today, and the sights and sounds of the locale are sure to make a grand impression.

The restaurants West End Nashville locals and visitors flock to are diverse in tasty offerings.

Live music is on tap nightly in West End, complete with impromptu performances from A-listers in Centennial Park's Musicians Corner.