The Life of a Gypsy: Nashville's Early Carnival History

There's something so romantic about the life of a gypsy. Women with their romantic layered clothing and big hoop earrings and scarves, telling fortunes harmlessly. Musclebound men of the gypsy tribe working hard to set up their latest camp, happy and charming. Gypsy children running around barefoot and carefree -it seems without a worry. They are a tight knit group and rarely move into attachments to people outside of their group, so the bond between them seems especially close. They even have their own gypsy language. Moving from town to town, always finding a new adventure, gypsies are a mystery to all of us.  Seems like being on vacation every day, but stumbling upon this blog, I found that many Nashvillians didn't associate Gypsies with anything that had to do with romance. They weren't quite so thrilled when they saw the gypsy wagons arrive in town yearly. Residents were even warned via radio that "the gypsies were coming to town, lock your doors."  Gypsies would set up a carnival annually on Carney Street here in Nashville. Carney Street is a stretch of road that runs parallel underneath an overpass. Basically, there are a few small run-down houses located there now. But one area of the road is a large clearing that even today looks like it could be a
campsite.

Carney Street in Nashville

Fortunetellers

Gypsies go by many names;and the name they go by is often because of their ethnicity. Gypsies, Travelers, Carnies, or Knackers. The Gypsies that came to Nashville in the 30's were mainly thought to be "Irish
Travelers."
"The Old Guy" from The Nashville Wanderin Around Blog says:

Carnival Grounds

       "Before my time (in the 30s and early 40s) the lot down on Second Ave. where it splits of from Fourth Ave. coming into town, across from the Fairgrounds, the one bordered on the one end by the washed out mobile home park, fronting Second Ave. towards town all the way to the railroad viaduct then following the railroad right-of-way to Browns Creek, then Browns Creek to Moore Ave. at the former mobile home park, then out Moore Ave. to Nolensville road was the city carnival grounds. The carnival mentioned was as I understand it a particular carnival run by a group of “gypsies”. Whether or not they were truly “gypsies” I do not know, but they traveled the country putting on their carnivals and would land here in Nashville once a year or so where they would set up there in that lot put on their shows and while they were in town would bury their dead in a local cemetery. I think they somehow carried them with them until they arrived here to bury them. The “gypsies” whoever they were, were considered by many to be quite disreputable."

          Some of the research I’ve done seems to indicate that the "Irish Travelers" used to camp there when they passed through and they may be adding to the info about the site. Whatever, the only remaining vestiges of the old carnival grounds are the memories of the old ones, and the name of the street that runs from the railroad overpass at 2^nd Ave. S. over to Nolensville Rd., …Carney St.

Most of the history of the "Irish Travelers  that visited Nashville yearly to bury their dead has disappeared. They did, however, leave a very positive legacy with the Saint Patrick's Catholic Church on 2nd Avenue in Nashville.  This is taken directly from their Parish website:

"One unique aspect of the parish is its connection to the “Irish Travelers.”  This is a group of Irish immigrants of the mid-1800’s who have not assimilated into the American population as other ethnic groups have done over the years.  Instead, this group remains clannish who live an itinerant lifestyle.  Over the years, various families comprising the Irish Travelers would appear in the Nashville area to hold a common funeral for those who had died since the last gathering.  Weddings and baptisms were performed as the gathering was equated to a family reunion.  Times have changed and the Irish Travelers no longer roam the countryside by wagon but they will return at times to St. Patrick and renew their connection to the parish.  The Irish Travelers have shown their appreciation for St. Patrick by donation of the Infant of Prague statue found in the church vestibule and the statue of Our Lady of Perpetual Hope."

St. Patricks Catholic Church in Nashville 

I would love to more about the "Irish Travelers  and Gypsies who would visit Nashville yearly. I wonder if someone out there might have some pictures of the old Carnivals they set up?