Marathon Motor Works

Marathon Motor Works in Nashville built automobiles between nineteen ten and nineteen fourteen, making it an early Tennessee automaker. The Marathon was a solid if unremarkable car that found a loyal customer base in Tennessee and the surrounding region. The company ended in nineteen fourteen after financial trouble and receivership, a victim of the same forces that were consolidating the early auto industry around Detroit.

The factory building survived and was later converted into an industrial complex. It was later redeveloped as a mixed-use historic district, its brick walls and wide factory floors turned into offices, restaurants, and retail. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and stands as a quirky footnote in the story of American automotive ambition: Nashville almost had its own car.