Caroline Eller

Nashville native Caroline Eller joined the Metropolitan Historical Commission (MHC) staff as a Historic Preservationist in 2017. Previously, she worked as a Historic Preservation and Housing Planner for the East Tennessee Development District, providing historic preservation and housing services to local governments within a 16-county region. She also served as a co-coordinator of the National Register of Historic Places program for the Tennessee Historical Commission. Her previous work with the MHC includes extensive grant administration, management of the Davidson County Cemetery Survey, coordination of the annual Nashville Conference on African American History & Culture, and project lead for Nashville’s first economic impact study on historic preservation. As the former Easements Coordinator for Historic Nashville, Inc., she managed the preservation easements program for nearly 30 historic properties. Ms. Eller holds a Bachelor of Arts in Historic Preservation and Community Planning from the College of Charleston in South Carolina and a Master of Fine Arts in Historic Preservation from Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. Her volunteer experience includes internships with Historic Charlotte, Inc. in North Carolina and
Historic Savannah Foundation in Georgia, and she served as an Ex-Officio Board member of the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance based out of Knoxville, Tennessee. She has served as an advisory group member of the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions since 2025. In 2026, Ms. Eller was appointed as the department’s executive director, only the fourth person to serve in this role since the organization’s founding in 1966.