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History of Nashville Tennessee
June 1, 2007 by Holly White · 1 Comment
Originally called Fort Nashborough after the Revolutionary War General Francis Nash, the Nashville area was settled around 1779 on the Cumberland River. The area was renamed Nashville in 1784. Soon after in 1796, Tennessee was the 16th state to join the Union. The Tennessee name is derived from a Cherokee variant of a Creek Indian word that is believed to mean “meeting place” or “bend in the river,” although there is some debate on the actual meaning of the word.
Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1861 and became involved in the Confederate Army of the Civil War that enveloped our developing nation. In 1862, Union Forces captured the city of Nashville. December 15-16, 1864 mark the dates when the Confederates failed to retake the city in the historic Battle of Nashville.
The Battle of Nashville marked one of the most victorious achievements of the Union Army and effectively marked the end of the Army of Tennessee. There are no on-site remnants left from this battle; today, the suburban areas of Green Hills, Grassmere, and Brentwood occupy the area that was once a historic battlefield. In 1866, after the Civil War dust settled, Tennessee was re-admitted to the Union, the first Confederate state to do so.
Nashville has a very unique organization of government. Since 1963, a Metropolitan Charter created a single government for both the city of Nashville and Davidson County. Nashville was the first large U.S. city to adopt this type of consolidated metropolitan city-county structure. Other cities have now formed similar governments using variations of the charter that has worked so well for Nashville.
Three former U.S. Presidents called Nashville home including Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Johnson. Of course, the Nashville area has been and still is home to many famous folks including country music stars, all types of musicians, actors, and more.
Nashville became the state capital in 1843, and is now the second most populated city in Tennessee. Today, the greater metropolitan area encompasses eight counties including Davidson County – where the city of Nashville is located – and the surrounding counties of Cheatham, Dickson, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, and Wilson. The estimated 2005 population of the Nashville metropolitan area is over 1.4 million people.
Holly White has been in Real Estate related industries going back to 1995 and has experience in not only real estate sales, but also in mortgage finance and real estate appraisal. Holly has a huge love for music and moved to Nashville in 2003 to further progress a family business in the music industry and open a recording studio on Music Row called Sixteen Ton Recording Studios. During that time she has also managed to take Nashville by storm in real estate with RE/Max Elite.
I’m attempting to find infomation about Nashville society just after the Civil War, around 1869. Thanks to anyone who can help.