Tucked behind the barbecue diners, guitar shops, and honky-tonks of Lower Broadway, a lonely church stands as a symbol of an old Nashville, long-since gone. Like so many other genuine Nashville landmarks, the inconspicuous Ryman Auditorium is often passed without so much as a second glance. Although it was renovated in 1994, the agents of modernization were unable to exorcise the ghosts of country past from its rafters.

In 1892, a riverboat captain by the name of Thomas Ryman commissioned the construction of a non-denominational tabernacle on the west bank of the Cumberland River.  His intention was to create a home for the fiery preaching of southern evangelist Sam Jones, as well as to provide a venue for cultural events in Nashville. Because of the incredible roster of speakers and performers at this Union Gospel Tabernacle, it would adopt the nickname: “The Carnegie Hall of the South.”  For years before it hosted the Grand Ole Opry, the Union Gospel stage saw speakers such as Arctic explorer Commodore Perry, William Jennings Bryan, Booker T. Washington, President Theodore Roosevelt, and his cousin’s wife, Eleanor Roosevelt. Legendary performers such as John Philip Sousa, W.C. Fields, Sarah Bernhardt, Charlie Chaplin, Katherine Hepburn, and Bob Hope, all graced the future Opry stage. Upon its founder’s death in 1902, the Union Gospel Tabernacle officially changed its name to the Ryman Auditorium.

As WSM’s Grand Ole Opry radio show continued to grow in popularity, it required a larger venue for its live recordings. In 1943, the weekly Opry show began its thirty-one year reign as the hottest ticket at the Ryman. Its proximity to honky-tonks such as Tootsie’s on Lower Broadway, helped shape the attitude and personality of downtown Nashville. Stories abound of legends, such as Hank Williams, sneaking out of the Ryman during tapings of the Opry to sit at the bar and drink himself into a stupor. Bill Carlisle, Porter Wagoner, Barbara Mandrell, and George Jones, as well as many other current Opry legends were inducted on the Ryman’s stage.

In 1974, WSM decided that the “Mother Church of Country Music” could no longer hold the demanding crowd and built a new Opry house next door to the Opryland Hotel and Amusement Park. For twenty years, this Music City Mecca lay abandoned, haunted by spirits of country music’s heyday and falling apart. In the early nineties, among other efforts to rediscover Nashville’s past, the Ryman went through a $8.5 million renovation.

The current structure has retained the charm and structural design of its glory days, but with new luxuries such as air-conditioning and elevators. The old church pews and stained-glass windows help maintain the legacy of the old Union Gospel Tabernacle. In January of 2000, Reba McEntire (inducted in 1986) made her first Opry performance at the Ryman. She recalled her first visit to the Ryman as a young girl. Her family could only afford the ‘cheap seats’ under the balcony where she would get splattered with beer and other trash. “Let me tell you,” she said in January, “the view is much better from up here (on stage).”

While most country stars and fans of the old days recount their favorite Ryman memories, a new generation has begun to create its own. In January of 1999, as well as just last month, the Opry returned to the Ryman for a month-long celebration. New stars such as Trisha Yearwood, Ricochet, and Joe Diffie took the stage alongside legends like Loretta Lynn and Bill Carlisle. In a show on January 15, 2000 at the Ryman, Patty Loveless welcomed bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley as the newest member of the Opry. In this author’s humble opinion, the Grand Ole Opry could only benefit from moving back full-time to the much more fun and exciting venue of the Ryman Auditorium.