Springwater Supper Club & Lounge
Nashville, Tennessee · Gilded Age · Est. 1896 · Open today
Since 1896
The Springwater sits beside Centennial Park in Nashville's West End, and local legend holds that the site served as a watering hole during Tennessee's Centennial and International Exposition of 1897, with the bar claiming some kind of alcohol-selling establishment has operated there since 1896. During Prohibition it reportedly operated as a speakeasy, which is the basis of its claim to have poured continuously, 'legally or illegally.' It has carried the Springwater name only since 1978. Today it is a beloved cash-only dive bar known for cheap beer and live indie, punk, and rock shows several nights a week, and it has drawn surprise performances from established artists.
Anecdotal accounts — unverified but part of house lore — claim Al Capone and Jimmy Hoffa gambled at the bar in its earlier, rowdier days.
What to order: Cheap cash-only beer and a long-running live-music stage that hosts local indie, punk, and rock acts several nights a week.
How solid is the claim?
Tennessee’s oldest bar — the evidence
Springwater Supper Club & Lounge in Nashville is our featured pick for the oldest bar in Tennessee, with a claimed founding year of 1896. The 1896 date and 'oldest bar serving alcohol, whether legally or illegally, in Tennessee' claim are widely repeated (Business Insider, National Trust for Historic Preservation story, travel media) but rest largely on the bar's own account and local legend — the National Trust piece itself frames the 1897 Centennial Exposition watering-hole origin as legend, and some visitors question whether the current building supports continuous operation since 1896. No stronger rival claim in Tennessee was found, so it keeps the title by default, but primary documentation of continuity is thin.