Nashville, Tennessee
In 1779, explorers James Robertson and John Donelson led a party of Overmountain Men to the site of French Lick. They constructed Fort Nashborough there, naming it for Francis Nash, an American Revolutionary War hero. The territory was still part of North Carolina when this settlement began. By 1800, the city had only 345 residents living within its boundaries. Among those early settlers were 136 enslaved African Americans and 14 free African Americans who lived in the area. Nashville grew quickly because of its strategic location as a port on the Cumberland River. This river served as a tributary of the Ohio River, connecting the region to wider trade networks. In 1806, Nashville was incorporated as a city and became the county seat of Davidson County. The city later became the permanent capital of Tennessee in 1843, replacing Knoxville, Kingston, and Murfreesboro. Before the Civil War, about 700 free Blacks lived in small enclaves in northern Nashville. More than 3,200 enslaved African Americans lived in the city during that same period. The city government owned 24 slaves by 1831 and 60 prior to the war. These individuals put to work built the first successful water system and maintained the streets. Auction blocks and brokers' offices formed part of the slave market at the heart of the city. Nashville led the south for iron production and was considered one of the wealthiest southern capitals. The city also cultivated tobacco and hemp as commodity crops while breeding thoroughbred horses.
In February 1862, Nashville became the first Confederate state capital to fall to U.S. troops. The state remained occupied by the U.S. Army for the duration of the war. Many enslaved African Americans from Middle Tennessee fled as refugees to Union lines. They were housed in contraband camps around military installations in Nashville's eastern, western, and southern borders. The Battle of Nashville took place on the 15th of December 16, 1864. This significant Union victory may have been the most decisive tactical gain by either side in the war. It was also the war's final major military action where Tennessee regiments played a large part on both sides. Afterward, Confederates conducted guerrilla raids and engaged in small skirmishes. Confederate forces in the Deep South were almost constantly retreating. In 1868, three years after the Civil War ended, the Nashville chapter of the Ku Klux Klan was founded by Confederate veteran John W. Morton. He initiated General Nathan Bedford Forrest into the white-supremacist organization. Forrest became Grand Wizard of the group, which formed chapters throughout the state and across the South. These groups opposed voting and political organizing by freedmen through threats, violence, and murder. Two freedmen, David Jones and Jo Reed, were lynched in Nashville by White mobs in 1872 and 1875 respectively. Reed was hanged from a bridge over the river but survived after the rope broke and he fell into water. He successfully escaped the city soon thereafter. On the 30th of April 1892, Ephraim Grizzard, an African-American man, was lynched in front of a white mob of 10,000 people. His brother Henry had been lynched days earlier in nearby Goodlettsville. From 1877 to 1950, six lynchings of Blacks occurred in Davidson County.
Between February 13 and the 10th of May 1960, sit-ins were organized at lunch counters in downtown Nashville. The Nashville Student Movement and Nashville Christian Leadership Council led these protests against racial segregation of public facilities. Activists James Lawson and Myles Horton trained students for two months before the action began. On the 19th of April 1960, the house of Z. Alexander Looby, an African American attorney and council member, was bombed by segregationists. Protesters marched to city hall the next day when Mayor Ben West said he supported desegregation of lunch counters. The sit-in ended successfully under Mayor West's leadership. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled that public schools must desegregate with all deliberate speed. A family filed a lawsuit in 1956 arguing that Nashville administrators should open East High School to Robert Kelley. Reverend Henry Maxwell also sued because his children took a 45-minute bus ride from South Nashville to the north end. These suits resulted in what became known as the Nashville Plan. The city's public schools would desegregate one grade per year beginning in fall 1957. By 1966, the Metro Council abandoned this plan and completely desegregated the entire school system at once. Congress passed civil rights legislation in 1964 and 1965, but tensions continued as society changed slowly. On the 8th of April 1967, a riot broke out on college campuses of Fisk University and Tennessee State University after Stokely Carmichael spoke about Black Power at Vanderbilt University.
In 1925, the establishment of the Grand Ole Opry marked the beginning of Nashville's journey as the Country Music Capital of the World. Recording studios began setting up shop in Nashville during the late-1940s to record artists performing at the Grand Ole Opry. In 1950, radio announcer David Cobb ad libbed on air that sounds listeners heard on WSM radio came from Music City, U.S.A. This coined the moniker Music City. During the mid-1950s, Nashville underwent musical transformation with emergence of the Nashville Sound. This style featured smooth strings and choruses, sophisticated background vocals, and smooth tempos associated with traditional pop. The new sound broadened country music's appeal and solidified Nashville's status as a recording center. By 1960, Time reported that Nashville had nosed out Hollywood as the nation's second biggest record-producing center after New York. Artists like Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash came to Nashville to record, reflecting expanding influence. Since the 1960s, Nashville has been the second-largest music production center in the United States. The music industry contributes about $10 billion per year and provides around 56,000 jobs to the area. The Big Three record labels have offices mostly in the Music Row area. Studio B was the birthplace of the Nashville Sound where Bill Porter operated his audio console.
In March 2012, a Gallup poll ranked Nashville among the top five regions for job growth. In 2013, Nashville was described as Nowville and It City by GQ, Forbes, and The New York Times. The city elected its first female mayor, Megan Barry, on the 25th of September 2015. She had officiated at the city's first same-sex wedding on the 26th of June 2015. In 2017, Nashville's economy was deemed the third fastest-growing in the nation. Freddie Mac realtors named it the hottest housing market in the US. Between 2010 and 2020, the metro area gained 343,319 residents. The median home price in North Nashville increased from $100,710 in 2010 to $532,121 in 2020. By 2020, 99% of neighborhoods were considered unaffordable for Black and Hispanic families earning median incomes. In November 2018, Amazon announced plans to build an operations center in the Nashville Yards development. Oracle Corporation constructed a $1.2 billion campus expected to employ 8,500 people by 2031. iHeartMedia selected Nashville as site of its second digital headquarters in December 2019. AllianceBernstein pledged to move its headquarters from New York City to Nashville by 2024. The technology sector has become important with multiple major companies establishing presence. Nashville hosts headquarters for Hospital Corporation of America, the world's largest private hospital operator. CoreCivic, formerly Corrections Corporation of America, was founded in Nashville in 1983 but moved out in 2019.
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 689,447 people residing in the city. This represented an increase of 88,225 or 14.67% over the 2010 figure of 601,222 residents. The population density reached specific levels reflecting this growth. About 13.9% of families and 18.2% of the population lived below the poverty line. Nashville's foreign-born population more than tripled between 1990 and 2000, increasing from 12,662 to 39,596. The largest immigrant groups include Mexicans, Kurds, Vietnamese, Laotians, Arabs, and Somalis. Nashville has the largest Kurdish community in the United States, numbering approximately 15,000. During the Iraqi election of 2005, Nashville was one of few international locations where Iraqi expatriates could vote. In May 2018, AllianceBernstein pledged to build a private client office by mid-2019. Rising housing prices and the opioid crisis have resulted in homelessness issues. Between 2,300 and 20,000 Nashvillians are homeless according to recent estimates. Four census tracts transitioned from majority Black to majority non-Black during the 2010-2020 period. On the 27th of March 2023, a gunman killed three children and three staff at Covenant School before being fatally gunned down by police. Freddie O'Connell became the tenth mayor on the 25th of September 2023 with platform focused on improving transportation.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When was Nashville founded and who led the initial settlement?
Explorers James Robertson and John Donelson led a party of Overmountain Men to the site of French Lick in 1779. They constructed Fort Nashborough there, naming it for Francis Nash, an American Revolutionary War hero.
What were the population statistics for enslaved and free African Americans in Nashville before the Civil War?
Before the Civil War, about 700 free Blacks lived in small enclaves in northern Nashville while more than 3,200 enslaved African Americans lived in the city during that same period. The city government owned 24 slaves by 1831 and 60 prior to the war.
How did the Nashville Student Movement end racial segregation at lunch counters in 1960?
Between February 13 and the 10th of May 1960, sit-ins were organized at lunch counters in downtown Nashville by the Nashville Student Movement and Nashville Christian Leadership Council. Protesters marched to city hall when Mayor Ben West said he supported desegregation of lunch counters, leading to a successful end under his leadership.
When was Nashville designated as Music City and what economic impact does its music industry have today?
Radio announcer David Cobb ad libbed on air in 1950 that sounds listeners heard on WSM radio came from Music City, U.S.A., which coined the moniker Music City. Since the 1960s, Nashville has been the second-largest music production center in the United States with an industry contributing about $10 billion per year and providing around 56,000 jobs to the area.
What are the current population figures and housing affordability challenges facing Nashville residents?
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 689,447 people residing in the city representing an increase of 88,225 or 14.67% over the 2010 figure. By 2020, 99% of neighborhoods were considered unaffordable for Black and Hispanic families earning median incomes.