On the site where Bolt + Tie now sits, American Car & Foundry used to manufacture passenger rail cars. Beginning in the 1850’s, the company produced passenger cars, dining cars, and mail cars for railroad companies that operated lines throughout the United States. The most famous of the rail cars, like the one depicted in this mural painted by Damon Thompson in 2024, were produced for the Interurban railroad, which ran from Clarksville to Indianapolis and throughout Indiana.

The name “Bolt + Tie” refers to the way passenger cars were connected together and was chosen because this project links the community to the River, to the rest of Clarksville, and our residents and tenants to each other.