At 1 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, people will file into Sevier Park Community Center at 3021 Lealand Lane for an hour-long talk called "A Surprising Story About the Nashville Zoo." The farmers market tents will already be gone. The 12 South Farmers Market's 2026 season ran Tuesdays from 4 to 7 p.m. at Sevier Park and ended October 27.
After the market closes, a different crowd takes over Tuesdays in the park. This fall a citywide history series that normally meets at Fort Negley is meeting in our park, and it will likely be here for only one season.
A Fort Negley Program, on Lealand Lane for One Fall
The Nashville History Club meets every Tuesday at 1 p.m. for, in Metro Parks' words, "a deep dive on one facet of Nashville's fascinating history." Authors and historians cover subjects from sports and historic neighborhoods to Civil Rights and early settlers. According to the Nashville Historical Foundation, the talks are usually held at the Fort Negley Visitors Center at 1100 Fort Negley Blvd.
Each fall event page says the reason for the move directly. Because of construction at Fort Negley Park, the club is meeting at Sevier Park Community Center for Fall 2026.
The construction is a big project. Metro calls it "Fort Negley Rehabilitation and Park Improvements, Phase 1." The work removes the old Greer Stadium parking lots and seeds them with native meadow grasses. It also restores the 1930s driveways, moves the main visitor entrance to Chestnut Street, improves accessibility, and adds interpretation of the site's layered histories. Metro announced that the $11 million first phase began February 20, 2026. The estimate was 12 to 14 months of work, with completion expected in early 2027.
So the arrangement has an end date built in. Metro's pages describe the Sevier Park meetings as a Fall 2026 setup. Once Fort Negley's work wraps up, the series has every reason to go home.
The speakers this season haven't been minor names. The fall lineup opened September 15 with former Mayor Karl Dean, who spoke on events after 1945 that contributed to Nashville's growth. Bill Carey followed on October 6 with "Tennessee History for Kids." On October 27, the last night of the farmers market, Dr. Natalie Inman spoke on the Trail of Tears that same afternoon.
The Tuesdays Still on the Calendar
By the time you read this, the November 3 talk on Metro Council has already happened. Metro's Fort Negley events listing shows four sessions left.
| Tuesday | Talk | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 10, 2026 | A Surprising Story About the Nashville Zoo | Tori Mason and Dr. Shannon Hodge |
| Nov. 17, 2026 | Foundations of Freedom: The Laborers Who Built Nashville's Civil War Forts | Andrew Spicer |
| Dec. 1, 2026 | The Greats All Played Here: Negro League Baseball in Nashville | Randy Horick |
| Dec. 8, 2026 | The Green Hills Theater | Tom Henderson |
Every session runs 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. No meeting is listed for November 24, Thanksgiving week. The schedule goes straight from November 17 to December 1.
Two of these four talks tie back to the reason the club is here at all. Andrew Spicer's November 17 talk covers the laborers who built Nashville's Civil War forts, a topic close to the history of the site now under construction. Tom Henderson's December 8 talk on the Green Hills Theater stays close to home, one neighborhood over.
The Nashville Historical Foundation describes History Club talks as free and open to the public. Metro's event pages don't post a registration link. If a weekday afternoon doesn't fit your schedule, the same pages point to the Fort Negley YouTube channel for recorded presentations.
Saturdays and a Monday Night Belong to the Neighborhood Association
The History Club covers weekday afternoons. Evenings and weekends in 12 South this time of year come from a different source. The 12 South Neighborhood Association runs a fall and holiday series, and local businesses pay for it.
The association's fall season has already used two of its own spaces. Its Book of Life movie night on October 10 was held at the 12 South Garden. The October 31 Halloween Parade, led by the Half Brass band, lined up at Halcyon Avenue and 9th Avenue. The garden is the 12 South Community Garden at the corner of Montrose Avenue and 10th Avenue. It's a volunteer-run plot on land that has been "temporarily loaned" to the 12 South Garden Club until a permanent site turns up. The association describes it as having begun as an empty lot.
The History Club isn't the only thing in 12 South running on borrowed space this season. The garden on Montrose is on loan too.
Three association events are still ahead:
- Polar Express Party & Santa, Saturday, Nov. 14. Professional Santa photos, pitched as a head start on holiday cards, plus an outdoor screening of The Polar Express hosted by the Jr. Predators. The association says details will follow, and the venue and start time haven't been posted.
- Floral Workshop & Friendsgiving, November. Neighbors make a Thanksgiving floral centerpiece, then stay for a neighborhood Friendsgiving. The date is listed as coming soon.
- 12 South Holiday Party, Monday, Dec. 7. The party is at Fryce Cream. The association says space is limited, so reserve tickets, and the time and ticket details are still to come.
Fryce Cream sits at 2905 12th Avenue South, next to Sevier Park at the south end of the strip before Kirkwood. Its namesake menu item is soft-serve paired with seasoned fries, with your choice of dips and toppings. That puts the holiday party at the edge of the same park where the History Club meets.
The association credits these events to "the generosity of these local businesses and neighbors." Sponsor logos on its homepage include Imogene + Willie, Judith Bright, Ladybird Tacos, Howell's Alley, Stay Grassy Y'all, Maker Construction and Melrose Movies. Maker Construction also appears on the garden's own list of contributors. Updates go out through the association's neighborhood email list, which is likely where the missing times and ticket links will show up first.
November and December in Order
Put the two calendars together and 12 South has something on the schedule nearly every week until mid-December:
- Tue., Nov. 10, 1 p.m. History Club on the Nashville Zoo, Sevier Park Community Center.
- Sat., Nov. 14. Polar Express Party & Santa, venue and time to be announced.
- Tue., Nov. 17, 1 p.m. History Club on the laborers who built Nashville's Civil War forts.
- November, date to be announced. Floral Workshop & Friendsgiving.
- Tue., Dec. 1, 1 p.m. History Club on Negro League baseball in Nashville.
- Mon., Dec. 7. 12 South Holiday Party at Fryce Cream, tickets required.
- Tue., Dec. 8, 1 p.m. History Club on the Green Hills Theater.
There's also a new stop for coffee before a 1 p.m. talk. Nashville Guru lists Forevermore at 12th & Wedgewood, at 1210 Wedgewood Avenue, as opening October 19, 2026. Forevermore calls itself a coffee, matcha and goods shop. Its website still lists only the 400 Cleveland Street location, so check before you walk over.
The December 8 Green Hills Theater talk is the last History Club session listed at Sevier Park. Fort Negley's first phase is scheduled to finish in early 2027.
If Sevier Park is the center of your week and you're wondering what the blocks around it are like to live on, Urquhart Realty Company can walk them with you, from Lealand Lane to the Montrose garden. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll start with the streets you already know.
