 | This articlemay be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia'slayout guidelines. Please help byediting the article to make improvements to the overall structure.(June 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
This article pertains to the history ofNashville, the state capital ofTennessee. What is now Nashville was the center of civilization for theMississippian culture around 1300.[1] In 1779,Fort Nashborough was built here in 1779 by pioneers from North Carolina. In 1784 it wasincorporated as a town by the North Carolina legislature. TheSouthwest Territory became the state of Tennessee in 1796 and Nashville became an incorporated city in 1806. In 1843 it became the state capital of Tennessee. In the Civil War Nashville was seized by Federal troops in 1862 and became a major Union military base. Confederate General J. B. Hood was decisively defeated in the Battle of Nashville in 1864. The city became the political, transportation, business and cultural center of the Middle Tennessee region. Besides the state government, it is best known for its educational, musical and religious establishments. In 1963 Nashville and Davidson County were consolidated under a single charter and are administered by a mayor and a council.
 |
| Mound Builders |
|---|
| Polities |
| Archaeology |
| Religion |
Part ofa series on the |
|---|
| History of Tennessee |
 |
 United States portal |
The first known settlers in the area of modern Nashville wereNative Americans who arrived in the region by at least 13,000 BC during thePaleoindian period of regional prehistory.[2] For millennia the descendants of these first Tennesseans continued to live along the river terraces and uplands overlooking theCumberland River, leaving behind a dense archaeological record spanning thePaleoindian,Archaic,Woodland, andMississippian periods.[3] The final prehistoric Native American culture to inhabit what would become Nashville was a regional manifestation of theMississippian culture known asMiddle Cumberland Mississippian, identified by archaeologists based on the specific combination ofburial practices,artistic style, andceramic styles.[4] Recent studies suggest that Middle Cumberland Mississippian culture may be the result of interactions between local populations and outsiders from theAmerican Bottom who moved into the western portion of theNashville Basin around AD 1000, settling at the site ofMound Bottom.[5] The archaeological footprint of the Middle Cumberland Mississippian culture appears throughout Nashville as the manyplatform mounds, extensive stone box cemeteries,palisaded villages, and small prehistoric farmsteads that have been destroyed by antiquarian scholars, relic hunters, and urban development. All archaeological evidence for Mississippian culture appears to vanish from the Nashville area by around AD 1475–1500. Archaeologists believe this regional collapse may have been the result of extreme pressures brought on by rapid population growth and dwindling resource availability following prolonged droughts leading to increased occurrences of disease, nutritional deficiencies, and warfare.[4][5]
There is no reliable historical or archaeological evidence for Native American presence in the Nashville area from 1500 through the late 1600s. The region between the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers was a hunting ground for many tribes, and while theShawnee occupied the area in the later part of the 17th century, by 1700 they were being challenged by theCherokee andChickasaw.[6]
The first Europeans to enter what would become Tennessee were part of the expedition led byHernando de Soto in the 16th century. Although the exact route of the Desoto expedition is unclear, they do not appear to have reached Middle Tennessee or the Nashville area. Instead, the earliest Europeans in what would become Nashville were Frenchfur traders such asMartin Chartier, who established a trading post in 1689 on theCumberland River, near the present-day site of the city.[7][8][9][10][11][12]Jean du Charleville (aka Charles Charleville) established a trading post in 1710 at a natural sulfur and saline spring near what is nowBicentennial Capitol Mall State Park. The natural salt lick attracted animals, which in turn attracted Native American hunters with whom the French could trade, and the area became known as "French Lick." This same portion of Nashville would later be known as Sulphur Spring Bottom andSulphur Dell.[13] In 1769,French-Canadian hunterTimothy DeMonbreun began a series of trips up the Cumberland to Nashville and built a cabin near the lick to use as a base of operations for fur trapping during his visits to the area. DeMonbreun settled in Nashville permanently in 1788, and ran a tavern and mercantile business.[14]
John Buchanan Sr., born in either Scotland or Ireland, migrated with his family from their home in Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, to the Watauga Valley, Washington District of North Carolina. Afterward, they took a long horseback trek to Kentucky, left their women and traveled down to the Cumberland Settlements in late 1778, building a station on the southern side of the Cumberland River above the French Lick, on the high ground where Nashville now stands, in the early spring of 1779. His son, Major John Buchanan, known for the siege of Buchanan's Station, is considered to be one of the founders of Nashville, Tennessee.[15] Another settlement arrived when James Robertson left theWatauga settlement in northwesternNorth Carolina, traveled overland for two months, and arrived on the banks of theCumberland River near the center of present downtown Nashville onChristmas Day, 1779.[16] They cleared the land and built a logstockade they called the Bluff station.Richard Henderson had planned to call the settlement Nashborough in honor of GeneralFrancis Nash, who won acclaim in theAmerican Revolution. For a brief time, court records did use the Nashborough designation but there is no evidence that any of the settlers did. Robertson's friend and fellow Watauga settlerJohn Donelson, along with some 60 families, including women and children, came in 30 flatboats and severalpirogues down theTennessee River and up the Cumberland, arriving April 23, 1780.[17] They founded a new community that was then a part of the state of North Carolina. The town was officially created and named Nashville in 1784, by an act of the North Carolina legislature.
As the northern terminus of theNatchez Trace, the town quickly developed as acotton center and riverport and later as arailroad hub. It soon became the commercial center of the entire Middle Tennessee region.[18] By 1800, the city had 345 residents, including 136 enslaved Blacks and 14 free Blacks.[19]
After the failed experiment of theState of Franklin, North Carolina ceded its land from theAllegheny Mountains to theMississippi River to the federal government. In 1796, that territory was admitted to the union as the state of Tennessee. Nashville at that time was still a small settlement in a vast wilderness, but its central location and status as the state capital made it the political, commercial, financial and religious center of the state.[dubious –discuss]
In 1806, Nashville was chartered as a city. The city's first debt and first large-scale public works project was the building of the Nashville Water Works, centered around the reservoir located on a bluff south of the city, now known as Rolling Mill Hill. The money was loaned by Philadelphia businessmen, and part of the amount was used to purchase around 12 enslaved Black men in Virginia to work on the project. The $50,000 loan was insufficient to cover the $55,000 cost of construction, but the rising value of the slaves purchased by the city covered the difference when all but one or two were sold at the end of the project. Water from the Cumberland River is pumped by steam engine into the reservoir, which remains in use today.[20]
In theWar of 1812, GeneralAndrew Jackson, a Nashville lawyer and politician, defeated the Creek[21] Indians at theBattle of Horseshoe Bend and the British invasion army at theBattle of New Orleans, becoming a national hero, thanks in large part to the fighting skills of the Tennessee militia. Jackson became a western hero, and building on his militia connections,[22] Jackson built a strong political base, and in 1828 Jackson was elected president.[23]
More than 30 years after receiving its charter, Nashville was selected as the permanentcapital of Tennessee on October 7, 1843. Several towns across Tennessee were nominated; all received votes, but Nashville andCharlotte were the top contenders. Nashville won by only one vote. Previously, the cities ofKingston (for one day) andKnoxville in Eastern Tennessee, andMurfreesboro, like Nashville located in Middle Tennessee, had each served as the temporary capital.
TheTennessee State Capitol building was constructed over a period of fourteen years from 1845 to 1859.[24] It was designed byPhiladelphia architectWilliam Strickland, who modeled it after a GreekIonic temple. Commercial,convict, andslave labor were used in the project. Fifteen enslaved Black men worked on carving the Capitol's limestone cellar from 1845 to 1847; Nashville stonemason A.G. Payne was paid $18 a month for their labor. It is believed to be "the most significant project where the [Tennessee] state government rented slave labor."[25] It houses theTennessee legislature and theGovernor's office.
For years Nashville was considered one of the wealthiest southern capitals and a large portion of its prominence was from the iron business. Nashville led the south for iron production.[26]
Tennessee was the last state to join theConfederacy on June 24, 1861, when GovernorIsham G. Harris proclaimed "all connections by the State of Tennessee with the Federal Union dissolved, and that Tennessee is a free, independent government, free from all obligations to or connection with the Federal Government of the United States of America."[27] Nashville was an immediate target ofUnion forces. The city's significance as a shipping port on the Cumberland River and its symbolic importance as the capital of Tennessee made it a desirable prize.
The General Assembly was in session at Nashville whenFort Donelson fell on February 16, 1862. Soon after at the end of the month, Nashville became the first state capital to fall to Union troops, under the command ofDon Carlos Buell. Prior to that, Nashville was evacuated and Governor made a speech recommending the citizens burn their private property; retreating troops destroyed bridges crossing the Cumberland River.[28] Governor Harris issued a call for the legislature to assemble atMemphis, and the executive office was moved to that city. In the meantime, President Lincoln appointed future PresidentAndrew JohnsonMilitary Governor of Tennessee. He set up offices in the capital at Nashville. Confederate uprisings andguerrilla attacks continued sporadically in the city.
On December 2, 1864, the ConfederateArmy of Tennessee (not to be confused with the rival UnionArmy of the Tennessee) arrived south of the city and set up fortifications facing theUnion Army. After a lengthy stand-off, the Union forces attacked on December 15, starting theBattle of Nashville. The outnumbered Confederate forces were badly defeated and retreated south to theTennessee River.
Refugees poured into Nashville during the war, because jobs were plentiful in the depots, warehouses and hospitals serving the war effort, and furthermore the city was much safer place than the countryside. Unionists and Confederate sympathizers both flooded in, as did free blacks and escaped slaves, and businessmen from the North.[29][30] Nashville, with its very large transient population, had flourishing red light districts. Union wartime regulations forced prostitutes to purchase licenses and pass medical exams, primarily to protect soldiers from venereal disease. Their trade was deregulated once military control ended.[31]
A secret Confederate underground operated in the city, smuggling arms, medicines and information to the Confederacy, helping prisoners escape, and giving information to Confederate spies.[32]
After theCivil War, Nashville quickly grew into an important trade center. Its population rose from 16,988 in 1860 to 80,865 by 1900.[33] African-Americans increased from being 23 to 38 percent of the population between 1860 and 1870.[34] Meanwhile, the Nashville chapter of theKu Klux Klan was established by Confederate veteranJohn W. Morton, who initiated GeneralNathan Bedford Forrest.[35]
When the Union army left, the Fisk Free Colored School took over the Fort Gillem grounds, near where the free blacks lived before the civil war and north of downtown, and was renamed asFisk University in 1872, it became a leading institution of African-American higher education. A black business district grew up along the fort's wagon road, renamed Jefferson Street. Just across the Cumberland River downtown, several other large African-American districts developed around former camps in East and North Nashville.[34]
In the late 1880s, its African-American and poor white populations were affected by changes to laws by the state legislature, which made voter registration and voting more difficult by requirements including imposition of a poll tax in 1889. The effect was todisenfranchise most blacks and many poor whites, after Tennessee had been one of the most competitive states politically after the Civil War. About one-third of the state's citizens were thus shut out of the political process, a status that lasted for decades, until after passage of legislation during the mid-1960s as a result of the civil rights movement.
In 1897, Nashville hosted theTennessee Centennial and International Exposition, aWorld's Fair celebrating the 100th anniversary of Tennessee's entry into the Union. Areplica of the Parthenon was built for the event. The Parthenon replica is now the centerpiece ofCentennial Park.
An interesting sidenote occurred during the administration ofTheodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt visited Nashville and took his lodging at theMaxwell House Hotel. Joel Cheek, proprietor thereof, had served a special blend of coffee at the hotel's restaurant, and after drinking a cup of this coffee, Roosevelt proclaimed it "good to the last drop!" Cheek subsequently sold the blend to General Foods and to this day, Maxwell House coffee is enjoyed by millions.
In 1913 Nashville was the last of several major cities in Tennessee to adopt a commission form of government, with all members of a small commission electedat-large. Compared tosingle-member districts, this change resulted in further limiting the political power of any African Americans who were able to vote, as their candidates were unable to gain support by the majority of the city, which was white. Other cities that adopted this form of government in this period were Clarksville in 1907, Chattanooga and Knoxville in 1911, and Jackson in 1915. As a result of legal challenges beginning in the late 1970s, all these cities have adopted new systems, most by 1990. These established council or commissions with more numerous members, most of whom are elected fromsingle-member districts, when enables minorities to elect one or more candidates of their choice.
On March 22, 1916, a fire in East Nashville erupted, destroying more than 500 homes. The fire was exacerbated by unusually high wind gusts, allowing it to spread quickly before firefighters could suppress it. This became known as theGreat Fire of 1916. Though there were few injuries and only one fatality, the fire significantly damaged the economy of East Nashville for decades.
TheGreat train wreck of 1918 occurred on July 9, 1918, in Nashville when an inbound local train collided with an outbound express, killing 101 people. This was one of the most deadly rail accidents in U.S. history.
Tennessee was the state that put the19th Amendment, allowing women to vote, over the top, and theratification struggle convulsed the city in August 1920.
On March 1, 1941,W47NV began operations in Nashville, as the first fully licensed commercialFM radio station in the United States.
.jpg)
In 1949, the city administration claimed 96 acres in Hell's Half Acre, a black neighborhood northwest of the state capital that housed the poorest African-Americans in the city. The city administration justified it by saying they would rid the city of vice, as the place was then known for saloons, prostitution, and other vices but also housed some of the city's oldest African-American churches and schools. The neighborhood was replaced with the State Library and Archives, a large office building, a six-lane parkway, terraced parking lots and green space, with few provisions for the people who lost their homes.[34]
Music entrepreneurs such asRoy Acuff (1903–1992) made Nashville thecountry music capital after World War II. Acuff joined theGrand Ole Opry in 1938, and although his popularity as a musician waned in the late 1940s, he remained one of the Opry's key figures and promoters for nearly four decades. In 1942, he co-founded the first major Nashville-based country music publishing company—Acuff-Rose Music.[36] The Second Avenue/lower Broadway district supports a large music industry as well as a musically flavored tourist center.[37]
During the winter of 1951, Nashville experienced the most severe blizzard in the city's history. From Sunday, January 28 to Tuesday, January 30, an ice storm produced an inch of sleet and freezing rain, gridlocking the city and cutting off the power supply to many neighborhoods. On the afternoon of Wednesday, January 31, a blizzard swept through the city with wind gusts in excess of 50 mph and visibility down to zero. Eight inches of snow were recorded, and commute around the city was virtually impossible. On the night of February 2, low temperatures reached -13 degrees Fahrenheit, causing pipelines to burst. Many Nashville residents lacked both electricity and water. Due to the severity of the ice storm and the blizzard that followed afterward, this is known as the worst episode of winter weather in Nashville's history. The blizzard of 1951 holds third place for the most snow recorded in Nashville from a single storm system, behind theblizzard of 1892 andWinter Storm Jonas in 2016.
Nashville was a center of theCivil Rights Movement. In 1957, public schools began to be desegregated using the "stair-step" plan as proposed byDan May; people protested integration and, at Hattie Cotton Elementary School,a bomb was detonated. No one was killed, and after that the desegregation plan went on without violence.[38] The school board gerrymandered the school districts so that only nine black first-graders enrolled out of about 100 that were eligible. Seven years later, fewer than 800 black students were in formerly all-white schools while black teachers and principals faced demotions or layoffs as the city consolidated the system.[34]
On February 13, 1960, hundreds of college students involved in theNashville Student Movement launched asit-in campaign todesegregate lunch counters throughout the city. Inspired by students inGreensboro, North Carolina, students from Fisk, the American Baptist Theological Seminary, and Tennessee A&I had similar sit-in protests and boycotts in Nashville.[34] Although initially met with violence and arrests, the protesters were eventually successful in pressuring local businesses to end the practice ofracial segregation. Many of the activists involved in theNashville sit-ins—includingJames Bevel,Diane Nash,Bernard Lafayette,John Lewis and others—went on to organize theStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which emerged as one of the most influential organizations of the civil rights movement. The first movement credited to SNCC was the 1961 Nashville Open Theater Movement, directed and strategized by James Bevel, which desegregated the city's theaters.
Inspired by their example, Nashville has had aconsolidated city-county government (also known as a "metropolitan government") since 1963. Although a similar proposal had failed in 1958, Davidson County voters approved consolidation in areferendum on June 28, 1962.[39]
On April 16, 1998, anF3 tornado struck the downtown area at around 3:30 p.m., causing serious damage and blowing out hundreds of windows from skyscrapers, raining shattered glass on the streets and closing the business district for nearly four days. Over 300 homes were damaged, and three cranes at the then incompleteAdelphia Coliseum were toppled. Though only one person was killed, it was one of the most costly urban tornadoes on record in the U.S.
The expansion of theNational Hockey League brought theNashville Predators to Nashville in 1998. They currently play at Bridgestone Arena, located in downtown Nashville. The franchise has performed exceptionally well in Nashville, valued at $270 million in 2016.
Shortly after the NHL expansion in 1998, the Tennessee Oilers moved from Memphis to Nashville in 1999, beginning its inaugural season as theTennessee Titans.In two years, Nashville witnessed the expansion of two professional sports organizations. These franchises tremendously invigorated the revitalization of the downtown area.
In 2000, Nashville nativeBill Frist rose to national political prominence when he becamemajority leader of theU.S. Senate. Frist was formerly a transplant surgeon at theVanderbilt University Medical Center.
In 2006, commuter rail service from Nashville to Lebanon opened to the public. Further plans to expand the Music City Star (now known as theWeGo Star) were halted during theGreat Recession of 2008–09; however, plans to expand commuter rail service are once again an objective for the city.
On April 30 through May 7, 2010,significant flooding impacted Nashville and its suburbs. Many areas in the Nashville MSA received more than 18 inches of rainfall in less than 48 hours. This caused significant damage to the downtown area, and three dozen lives were lost in the city. Due to the rarity of the amount of rainfall, meteorologists dubbed it a "thousand year event."
On January 22, 2016,Winter Storm Jonas brought blizzard conditions to Nashville, producing more than eight inches of snow. TheNational Weather Service issued a blizzard warning that morning. On January 22, Nashville set a record for snowfall received in a 24-hour period. The blizzard proceeded to the East Coast by January 23.
In 2016, Nashville experienced a growth of 82 residents per day. In 2017, Nashville surpassed Memphis as Tennessee's most populous city. Despite the Great Recession, Nashville has posted strong economic growth during the 21st Century and boasts one of the lowest unemployment rates in Tennessee.
From April 25–27, 2019, Nashville hosted the2019 NFL draft. It broke draft attendance records with 600,000 people attending and is currently the most watched draft in NFL history with 47.5 million TV views.[40]
In the early hours ofMarch 3, 2020, Nashville was once again struck by a deadly tornado. This high-end EF-3 tornado killed two people in East Nashville and continued on into Wilson County where it killed an additional three people.[41]
OnDecember 9, 2023, a violent storm with multiple tornadoes left a line of destruction some hundred miles long through the area around Nashville. Especially hard hit was the Madison neighborhood of Nashville, in which three people were killed. Property damage was extensive.[42]
On January 8, 2013,The New York Times declared Nashville "It" city in a publication titled "Nashville's Latest Hit Could Be the City Itself".[43] This article is widely thought to have spurred new growth and construction in Nashville, ultimately leading to Nashville being declared the 5th fastest growing city in America by the end of 2013.
On May 28, 2013, the newly anticipated Music City Center opened its doors in the SoBro District of Downtown Nashville. This new convention center marked a major milestone by replacing the rapidly aging Nashville Convention Center, and also adding an 800-room Omni Hotel along with an expansion of the Country Music Hall of Fame's facilities. This construction project sparked a number of new construction projects in both the SoBro district and other parts of the city, and has continued to spur development up into 2015.
In November 2014,Bridgestone announced that they would be keeping their North American Headquarters in Nashville, and would invest $200 million to build a new 35 story skyscraper that would bring 1,700 jobs to downtown Nashville.[44]
On January 26, 2015,Google announced that it was bringing itsFiber service to the Nashville Area, bringing with it super fast internet using fiber optic cables in the ground. This announcement was seen as a major plus for the up-and-coming tech scene in Nashville, along with other companies that either have a presence here or looking to relocate to the Nashville Area.
On April 17, 2015First Tennessee Park opened in the Germantown district of Nashville, which provided a new home for the AAA Baseball team theNashville Sounds.
As a whole, at least 123 projects are planned for or under construction in Davidson County, many of which have begun recently. In downtown alone, developments consist of a 27-story Westin Hotel under construction in the SoBro district,[45] a 33-story residential apartment complex named "The Sobro",[46] a 35-storyJW Marriott is proposed across from theMusic City Center,[47] HCA's new 18 story headquarters along with a $1 billion development named Capitol View are both under construction in the North Gulch area,[48] and a 44-story condo and apartment building named 505 cst is proposed for the downtown core which, if built, will be the tallest building in Nashville.[49]
oneC1TY is an urban community under construction near the Charlotte Ave and 28/31st connector intersection. It will serve as a center of technology-enabled commercial, residential, research and retail activity.[50] Itssustainable design features green space, and a community lawn will encourage walking, biking and enjoyment of the outdoors, music and art.
Nashville becamethe largest city in Tennessee in 2017, surpassing Memphis by a total of roughly 8,000 people.
Zillow ranked Nashville the hottest housing market in the entire United States in 2017,[51] Milken Institute ranked Nashville as the 7th best performing city in the United States based on economic, social and communal factors on a local and national scale.[52]
In August 2017British Airways announced the launch of the first nonstop transatlantic flight on their airline from Nashville to London's Heathrow Airport, beginning on May 4, 2018. The flight is expected to contribute $100 million to Nashville's economy and promote business connections and leisure travel to the city.[53]
In May 2018, The New York financial firmAllianceBernstein announced it would relocate its corporate headquarters to downtown Nashville in the Fifth and Broadway development, bringing at least 1000 new corporate jobs. Shortly after in June 2018 Nashville was named the host of the 2019NFL draft.
On November 12, 2018, Nashville was announced as the East coast operations hub forAmazon's logistics and retail department, bringing at least 5000 new corporate jobs downtown to the Nashville Yards development and becoming the largest jobs announcement in the history of the state of Tennessee.Ernst & Young announced it would be opening a tech hub on Nashville's Music Row, bringing a further 600 jobs to the Nashville region.
On December 25, 2020,a car bomb exploded in downtown Nashville at the city's business district, outside theAT&T Building, injuring at least three people. Initial reports suggested that at least one building had collapsed. Officials believe the explosion was an "intentional act".[54][55][56] The explosion was felt "miles" away from the blast site.[57]
On March 27, 2023,a mass shooting occurred at The Covenant School in Nashville'sGreen Hills neighborhood, killing three adults, three children, and the perpetrator.[58]
To Captain Morton came the peculiar distinction of having organized that branch of the Ku Klux Klan which operated in Nashville and the adjacent territory, but a more signal honor was his when he performed the ceremonies which initiated Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest into the mysterious ranks of the Ku Klux Klan.
{{cite book}}:|author= has generic name (help)| Background |
| ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battles |
| ||||||
Involvement (by city or town) | |||||||
| Leaders |
| ||||||
| Units | |||||||
| Aftermath | |||||||
| Related topics | |||||||
