The Taylor Swift Bench In Centennial Park: Everything you need to know

Nashville is known for its celebrities and their bars. But, you need to check out these non-celebrity bars and restaurants when you’re there too.

They’re all really good and worth the trip.

Centennial Park History

The Parthenon was built in 1895 as part of The Tennessee Centennial Exposition, a nearly half-year celebration held in 1897 to celebrate the state’s 100th birthday.

It was a temporary structure, just like the other buildings used for the celebration.

But Nashvillians embraced the Parthenon, and so, it stayed. Although surrounded by nothing.

It went two years of standing solo when the Nashville Board of Parks was created. And the board decided to build Centennial Park a year later on the Exposition grounds.

In 1915, the structure started dilapidating, since it was only meant to be temporary. And in 1920, a permanent Parthenon was erected. It took five years to finish, another six years to reopen, and almost 60 years before the Athena Parthenos is inside for the public to marvel at.

Fun fact: The Athena statue’s 35th anniversary is this year.

The Taylor Swift Bench Lore

So, if you’re not a Swiftie, you may be wondering why Taylor Swift has a bench in Centennial Park.

It’s not because she grew up outside of Nashville (yes, she was raised on a Christmas tree farm in Reading, Pennsylvania, but she was a teen when she moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee to pursue her music career). And it’s not because she was discovered at The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, although that is a true fact.

It’s because her song invisible string, opens with the lines, “Green was the color of the grass / Where I used to read at Centennial Park / I used to think I would meet somebody there”

So, of course, the Nashville Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation, which now operates the park, was thrilled for the shout out, as any person or location that finds itself in a Taylor Swift song is.

And so, it installed a bench under a willow tree (non-Swifties, another fun fact: Taylor Swift has a song called Willow) in her honor during the weekend her famous Eras Tour was in Nashville in May 2023. On the bench is a plaque that reads, “For Taylor Swift — A bench for you to read on at Centennial Park. Welcome home, Nashville”

Has Taylor Swift been to her bench in Centennial Park? I don’t think so. I haven’t found a single reference anywhere saying she has been there. However, the bench is still a pilgrimage for many Swifties, some of which have left friendship bracelets on the bench for other Swifties to find.

Honestly, that’s adorable and I wish that I had thought to do that before I went to Nashville.

The Taylor Swift Bench Location

Tucked away in the Sunken Gardens, which is a tiny little alcove off of the main water feature, Lake Watauga, is the Taylor Swift bench.

It’s the only bench in the Sunken Gardens. It’s adorned by flowers on both sides and shaded by a willow tree above it.

If you know what you’re looking for, you’ll easily find it. But if you don’t know what you’re looking for, it’s a little bit hard.

There are a ton of metal benches and tables where family sit and have picnics and feed the birds along Lake Watauga. They’re all taken all the time and you don’t want to interrupt their family time to look for the Taylor Swift bench.

You don’t have to because that’s not where her bench is.

At the end of all those benches, there’s a little piece of pathway and a hidden garden. Her bench is there.

If you’ve been to Centennial Park a lot, it might not be hidden to you, but if you are a tourist, it honestly feels very hidden. Especially because on there’s a ton of construction and a closed path on the other side of the garden.

I rode my bike past it twice and went the wrong way even following the directions on Google maps. I ended up parking my bike at the Parthenon and walked down to the water, ready to ask all the families if I could look at their benches before realizing there is a tiny, almost secret/hidden by the temporary construction walls entrance that I overlooked.

All this to say: Don’t get frustrated and give up on the bench because I know you’re in Centennial Park strictly for that. You will find it.

Maybe you can’t pay thousands of dollars to sit in a stadium seat and look at Taylor Swift, but you can make it to Centennial Park, which is free to enter, and see her bench.

The Taylor Swift bench is a fully wooden bench, so if you’re walking around the park and you only see metal benches, you’re in the wrong spot.

In the sunken garden, there is one bench and it’s hers.

You’ll know it by the plaque. Well, if it’s still there. In May, someone actually pried the plaque off (“This is why we can’t have nice things,” the local news said in its report). But, the parks department replaced the plaque and it was there when I went last month (mere days before the release of TS12).

The Taylor Swift Bench in Centennial Park: Frequently Asked Questions

More Taylor Swift in Nashville

If you want to have more Taylor Swift experiences in Nashville, we suggest going to The Bluebird Cafe (4104 Hillsboro Pike), which is where upcoming singer songwriters participate in a showcase every weekend. That’s where Taylor Swift was discovered by Scott Borchetta.

Tickets for the showcases are really hard to get, so just keep that in mind.

There is the Taylor Swift Education Center at the Country Music Hall of Fame (222 Fifth Avenue South), named after her because she made a significant donation ($4 million!) to have it built. The museum also has a lot of her memorabilia in it.

Outside of the Country Music Hall of Fame is a large photograph of Taylor Swift, wearing the Speak Now dress from the Eras tour.

In a blink and you’ll miss it Taylor Swift sighting, there’s a trivia question about her on the false wall at Goo Goo Chocolate Co., off of Broadway in Nashville.

There are a bunch of Nashville-related questions separating two seating areas in the chocolate shop.

She also was on the mural at Legends Corner (428 Broadway), but was (in my opinion controversially) was painted over to add Brad Paisley.

And, not that I’m saying go to anyone’s home, but Taylor Swift does own the penthouse in the Adelicia building in Music Row. We rode our bikes past it, but we didn’t know she lived there until I was writing this, so we didn’t look for her.