The site was the former home of a post-Reconstruction Nashville retailer, Lebeck Brothers/Denton & Company, which rose to prominence in the 1870s.

[1][2] The store was also known for its lavish Christmas decorations as well as the annual Nativity scene it sponsored in Centennial Park.

[3][4] In 1960, Harveys, along with several other downtown Nashville stores, was the site of sit-in demonstrations, in which local college students protested against racially segregated lunch-counters.

By the 1980s, however, the popularity of suburban shopping malls led to declining sales at Harveys downtown Nashville location.

In the late 1980s, Harveys announced another suburban Nashville store at 4724 Lebanon Road in Hermitage.