Nashville Tennessee

Tennessee's capital on the Cumberland River, known worldwide as Music City.

via Wikipedia: Nashville, Tennessee · see source

Nashville is the capital of Tennessee and the state's largest city by population. It sits on the Cumberland River in Middle Tennessee and serves as the seat of Davidson County. The 2020 census counted 689,447 residents, and the wider metro area holds over 2.15 million people, making it one of the fastest-growing places in the country. Nashville is best known as a hub of the music business, above all country music, which earned it the nickname Music City. It is also a major center for healthcare, publishing, banking and technology, and its many colleges gave rise to another nickname, the Athens of the South.

Quick Facts

Settlement Type: State capital and consolidated city-county
Official Name: Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
Nicknames: Music City, Country Music Capital, Athens of the South
Established Title: Founded

Facts from the source article.

Lore & Background

Long before the city existed, French trader Martin Chartier set up a trading post on the Cumberland in 1689, and a later French settlement nearby became known as French Lick. In 1779 a party led by James Robertson and John Donelson reached that site and built Fort Nashborough. The North Carolina General Assembly chartered the town in 1784 and named it for Francis Nash, a Revolutionary War general. River trade and later the railroads drove its growth; it was incorporated in 1806 and made the permanent state capital in 1843. During the Civil War it became, in 1862, the first Confederate state capital captured by Union forces, and the Confederate attempt to retake it at the Battle of Nashville in 1864 failed. After the war, the Fisk Jubilee Singers toured the U.S. and Europe from 1871, an early sign of the city's musical future.

Reader's Guide

Since 1963 Nashville has run a combined city-county government in which a 40-member metropolitan council works alongside the mayor and vice mayor. The city hosts three major professional teams: the Predators, the Titans and Nashville SC. Schools include Vanderbilt University, Belmont University, Fisk University, Tennessee State University, Lipscomb University and Trevecca Nazarene University. Companies based there include Bridgestone Americas, Asurion, Hospital Corporation of America and Ryman Hospitality Properties. For anyone following country music, Nashville is the industry's home base.

Did You Know?

Nashville was named for Francis Nash, a general of the Continental Army.
A cholera epidemic in 1849–1850 claimed the life of former President James K. Polk.
Knoxville, Kingston and Murfreesboro all served as Tennessee's capital before Nashville.
In the 19th century Nashville led the South in iron production.