Timeline of Nashville, Tennessee

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prior to 19th century

• 1780
  • Fort Nashborough established.^[1]
  • Cumberland Compact signed; Cumberland Association formed.^[1]
• 1784 - Nashville established.^[2]
• 1785 - Davidson Academy incorporated.^[3]
• 1789 - Methodist church built.^[4]
• 1796 - Settlement becomes part of the state of Tennessee.
• 1797 - Tennessee Gazette and Mero District Advertiser newspaper begins publication.^[5]

19th century

• 1806
  • Town incorporated.^[2]
  • Joseph Coleman becomes mayor.^[2]
• 1812 - Tennessee General Assembly relocates to Nashville from Knoxville.^[6]
• 1813 - Nashville Library Co., Inc. established.^[7]
• 1817 - Tennessee General Assembly relocates from Nashville to Knoxville.^[6]
• 1818
  • Earl's Nashville Museum opens.^[8]
  • Population: 3,000 (approximate).^[9]
• 1820 - Christian Church built.^[4]
• 1822 - Nashville City Cemetery established.
• 1823 - Presbyterian church built.^[4]
• 1825 - Decker & Dyer Reading Room established.^[7]
• 1826 - Tennessee General Assembly relocates to Nashville from Murfreesboro.^[6]
• 1829 - Christ Church built.^[4]
• 1831 - Tennessee State Penitentiary built.^[4]
• 1833 - Water-works established.^[4]
• 1835 - Tennessee Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge organized.^[10]
• 1837 - House of Industry for Females established.^[4]
• 1838 - First Baptist Church built.^[4]
• 1841 - Mechanics' Library Association formed.^[7]
• 1842 - Burns & Co. in business.^[11]
• 1843 - Nashville becomes capital of Tennessee.^[6]
• 1844 - Tennessee School for the Blind,^[12] and Mechanics Institute and Library Association established.^[10]
• 1845 - Protestant Orphan Asylum established.^[4]
• 1847 - St. Mary's Cathedral built.^[4]
• 1849 - Merchants' Library and Reading Room^[7] and Tennessee Historical Society founded.^[10]
• 1850
  • June: Nashville Convention held.
  • Suspension bridge built over the Cumberland River.^[4]
• 1851 - Nashville Gas Light Company in operation.^[4]
• 1852
  • Public school system inaugurated.^[4]
  • Davidson County Jail built.^[4]
• 1854 - Tennessee State Library established.^[10]
• 1856 - Church of the Assumption built.^[4]
• 1857 - Davidson County Court House rebuilt.^[4]
• 1858 - City Workhouse and Church of St. Ann's built.^[4]
• 1859
  • Tennessee State Capitol, draw-bridge, and Central Baptist Church built.^[4]
  • Louisville and Nashville Railroad begins operating.
• 1862
  • City under Union control.^[13]
  • Fort Negley built.
• 1863 - St. Mary's Catholic Orphan Asylum founded.^[4]
• 1864 - December 15–16: Battle of Nashville.
• 1865 - Fisk Free Colored School,^[14] Ward Seminary for Young Ladies,^[13] and Earhart's Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College established.^[4]
• 1866 - Central Tennessee College founded.^[13]
• 1867
  • Montgomery Bell Academy opens.^[2]
  • Nashville Lyceum Association incorporated.^[15]
• 1869 - Howard Chapel built.^[4]
• 1870 - Sulphur Dell ballpark opens.
• 1871
  • Tennessee and Pacific Railroad (Lebanon-Nashville) begins operating.
  • Fisk University Jubilee Singers,^[13] Library Association,^[7] and Nashville Saddlery Company established.^[16]
• 1873 - Vanderbilt University established.
• 1874 - Hebrew temple and First Cumberland Presbyterian Church built.^[4]
• 1876 - Nashville Banner newspaper begins publication.^[17]
• 1884 - Nashville Athletic Club formed.
• 1885 - Industrial School^[2] and Query Club (women's group) established.^[18]
• 1889
  • The Hermitage museum opens.
  • Boscobel College for Young Ladies established.^[13]
  • Peabody Normal College active.^[19]
• 1890 - Population: 76,168.^[13]
• 1892 - Union Gospel Tabernacle built.^[20]
• 1897 - Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition held.
• 1898
  • Howard Library established.
  • Tennessee State Penitentiary rebuilt.

20th century

1900s-1940s

• 1900
  • Meharry Medical College active.^[21]
  • Population: 80,865.^[13]
  • Polk Place demolished.
• 1904 - Carnegie Library opens.^[22]
• 1905 - Centennial Club (women's group) active.^[23][24]
• 1906
  • Tennessee State Fair begins.
  • Nashville Globe newspaper begins publication.^[17]
• 1907 - Nashville Tennessean newspaper in publication.^[17]
• 1909 - Sparkman Street Bridge opens.
• 1910
  • Nashville Art Association chartered.^[25]
  • The Hermitage Hotel in business.
  • Advance Publishing Company incorporated.^[26]
  • Population: 110,364.^[13]
• 1916 - Nashville Housewives League organized.^[18]
• 1918
  • July 9: Great Train Wreck of 1918.
  • 1918 influenza epidemic.^[27]
• 1920 - Population: 118,342.^[28]
• 1925
  • Grand Ole Opry begins broadcasting.
  • Belcourt Theatre built.^[20]
• 1927 - Warner Parks open.
• 1930
  • First American National Bank formed.
  • Population: 153,866.^[28]
• 1931
  • Nashville Children's Theatre established.
  • Parthenon rebuilt.
• 1936 - Berry Field (airport) dedicated.
• 1937 - Tennessee State Museum established.
• 1941
  • W47NV radio licensed.
  • Iroquois Steeplechase begins.
• 1942 - Acuff-Rose Music and Harveys (department store) in business.
• 1946 - Nashville Symphony founded.

1950s-1990s

• 1950
  • WSM-TV begins broadcasting.
  • Population: 174,307.^[28]
• 1951 - Ben West becomes mayor.
• 1952 - Tennessee Theatre opens.^[29]
• 1953 - WSIX-TV begins broadcasting.
• 1954 - WLAC-TV begins broadcasting.
• 1957 - Life & Casualty Tower built.
• 1960
  • Nashville sit-ins.
  • Cheekwood Museum opens.
• 1961 - Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum established.
• 1962 - WDCN-TV begins broadcasting.
• 1963
  • Metropolitan Council (Nashville) established.^[30]
  • Beverly Briley becomes mayor.
• 1967 - 100 Oaks Mall in business near city.
• 1968 - Third National Bank Building constructed.
• 1972
  • Fan Fair music festival begins.
  • Opryland USA opens.
• 1974 - Regions Center (Nashville) built.
• 1975 - Richard Fulton becomes mayor.
• 1980
  • Tennessee Performing Arts Center opens.
  • Sri Ganesha Temple established.^[31]
• 1981 - Nashville Opera Guild chartered.
• 1985 - Starwood Amphitheatre opens.
• 1986 - Tennessee Players founded.^[26]
• 1987
  • Nashville Airport terminal built.
  • Bill Boner becomes mayor.
• 1988 - Nashville Shakespeare Festival and Nashville Pride begin.
• 1989
  • Nashville Scene begins publication.
  • Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack in business (approximate date).^[32]
• 1991 - Phil Bredesen becomes mayor.
• 1994
  • City website online.^[33][34]
  • South Central Bell Building constructed.
• 1996
  • Bicentennial Mall State Park opens.
  • Magdalene program for women, and Nashville Zoo at Grassmere established.
  • Nashville Arena built.
• 1998
  • April 15–16: Tornado.
  • Nashville Predators ice hockey team formed.
• 1999
  • Adelphia Coliseum opens.
  • Bill Purcell becomes mayor.^[35]
  • Al Gore presidential campaign, 2000 headquartered in city.^[36]

21st century

• 2000 - The City Paper begins publication.
• 2001
  • Tennessee Immigrant Rights Coalition headquartered in city.
  • Frist Center for the Visual Arts established.
• 2002 Nashville Public Education Foundation established by Nelson C. Andrews and Thomas J. Sherrard
• 2003 - Shelby Street pedestrian bridge opens.
• 2006
  • Schermerhorn Symphony Center opens.
  • Viridian Tower built.
• 2007 - Karl Dean becomes mayor.^[37]
• 2008 - Nashville for All of Us (group) organized.
• 2009
  • Third Man Records in business.
  • The Pinnacle at Symphony Place built.
  • Music City Drum and Bugle Corps founded.
  • Live on the Green begins.
  • Voters reject Nashville English Only Amendment.^[38]
• 2010
  • April–May: Flood.
  • Population: 601,222.
• 2011
  • October: Occupy Nashville begins.
  • Parnassus Books in business.^[39]
• 2012
  • March: Occupy Vanderbilt begins.
  • MyCity Academy (government program) established.
• 2013 - Music City Center opens.

See also

• History of Nashville, Tennessee
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Davidson County, Tennessee
• List of mayors of Nashville, Tennessee
• List of companies based in Nashville

Other cities in Tennessee

• Timeline of Memphis, Tennessee
• Timeline of Chattanooga, Tennessee
• Timeline of Knoxville, Tennessee

References

1. Federal Writers' Project 1939.
2. Wooldridge 1890.
3. J.G.M. Ramsey (1853), The annals of Tennessee to the end of the eighteenth century, Charleston, Tenn.: J. Russell, OCLC 11827530
4. Robert 1880.
5. Williams 1860, p. 90: "History of the Nashville Press"
6. "Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture". University of Tennessee Press.
7. Davies Project. "American Libraries before 1876". Princeton University. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
8. "Research & Collections". Tennessee Historical Society. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
9. Jedidiah Morse; Richard C. Morse (1823), "Nashville", A New Universal Gazetteer (4th ed.), New Haven: S. Converse
10. Williams 1860.
11. Marshall 1881.
12. John V. Armstrong (1898), Tennessee School for the Blind: History and Prospectus, Nashville
13. Britannica 1910.
14. Crystal A. deGregory (February 17, 2015), "Nashville’s Clandestine Black Schools", New York Times, Disunion
15. Acts of the State of Tennessee. 1867.
16. Catalogue and Price-List, Nashville, Tenn: Nashville Saddlery Co., 1889, OCLC 307639234
17. "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
18. "List of Manuscript Collection Finding Aids". Tennessee State Library and Archives. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
19. Eben S. Stearns (1885), Historical sketch of the Normal College, at Nashville, Tenn, Cincinnati: Elm Street Printing Company
20. "Historic Theatre Inventory". Maryland, USA: League of Historic American Theatres. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
21. Hulda M. Lyttle (1939). "A School for Negro Nurses: At the George W. Hubbard Hospital and Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee". American Journal of Nursing 39.
22. Annual Report of Carnegie Library of Nashville, Tenn. 1904.
23. Doyle 1990.
24. "Nashville". Official Register and Directory of Women's Clubs in America. 1913.
25. American Art Annual. NY. 1911.
26. "Special Collections Division: Finding Aids". Nashville Public Library. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
27. "50 U.S. Cities and Their Stories: Nashville", American Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919: a Digital Encyclopedia (University of Michigan), retrieved February 2016 (includes timeline)
28. Grant 1955.
29. "Movie Theaters in Nashville, TN". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
30. "Metropolitan Council". Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
31. Pluralism Project. "Hinduism in America". America's Many Religions: Timelines. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
32. "Nashville Eats". University of Mississippi, Southern Foodways Alliance. Retrieved October 2014.
33. "Metro Government Website History". Metropolitan Government of Nashville. Retrieved January 2016.
34. "Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County". Archived from the original on January 1997 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
35. "Mayor's Office". Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Archived from the original on August 2, 2002.
36. "Gore challenges Bradley to debates; moves campaign HQ to Tennessee". CNN. September 29, 1999. Archived from the original on December 5, 2006.
37. "Meet the Mayors". Washington, DC: United States Conference of Mayors. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
38. David Bornstein (February 19, 2014), "Immigrants Welcome Here", New York Times
39. "About Us". Parnassus Books. Retrieved October 2014.

Bibliography

Published in the 19th century

• John P. Campbell (1855). Nashville Business Directory. Nashville.
• "Cumberland River: Nashville". James' River Guide ... Mississippi Valley. Cincinnati: U.P. James. 1860.
• "History of the Nashville Press". Nashville City and Business Directory, For 1860–61 5. Nashville, TN: L.P. Williams & Co. 1860. p. 90.
• R.H. Long (1863), "Nashville", Hunt's Gazetteer of the Border and Southern States, Pittsburgh, Pa.: John P. Hunt
• Singleton's Nashville business directory for 1865, Nashville: Singleton, 1865
• Charles E. Robert. Nashville and Her Trade for 1870.
• Charles Edwin Robert, ed. (1880). Nashville City Guide Book. Nashville TN: Wheeler Brothers.
• Nashville Directory. Nashville, TN: Marshall & Bruce. 1881.
• A.S. Colyar (October 1889). "Nashville". New England Magazine.
• John Wooldridge, ed. (1890). History of Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville, Tennessee: Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. LCCN 76027605.
• The Wayne Hand-book of Nashville, and the Tennessee Centennial + Exposition, Ft. Wayne, Ind: Wayne Publishing Company, 1897, OCLC 12548494
• Jane Henry Thomas (1897), Old days in Nashville, Tenn., Nashville, Tenn: Publishing House Methodist Episcopal Church, South

Published in the 20th century

1900s-1940s

• Centennial Album of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville: J. Prousnitzer & Company, 1906
• Dau's blue book of selected names of Nashville and suburbs. 1907.
• The charter of the city of Nashville, Nashville: McQuiddy Printing Co., 1909, OCLC 7184909
• "Nashville", Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424 – via Internet Archive
• Social Directory, Nashville, Tennessee. Cumberland Press. 1911.
• All about Nashville, Nashville, Tenn: Marshall & Bruce Co., 1912
• "Nashville". Automobile Blue Book. USA. 1919. Map
• The charter of the city of Nashville, Nashville, Tenn: Ambrose, 1921, OCLC 10981902
• F. Garvin Davenport (1937). "Cultural Life in Nashville on the Eve of the Civil War". Journal of Southern History 3.
• Federal Writers' Project (1939), "Nashville", Tennessee: a Guide to the State, New York: Viking
• Tennessee Historical Records Survey (1940), "Davidson County (Nashville)", Directory of Churches, Missions, and Religious Institutions of Tennessee (Nashville) (19)
• William Henry McRaven (1949), Nashville, Athens of the South, Chapel Hill: Scheer & Jervis, OCLC 1397316

1950s-1990s

• Daniel R. Grant (1955). "Urban and Suburban Nashville: A Case Study in Metropolitanism". Journal of Politics 17.
• Eleanor Graham (1957). "Nashville Community Study". Peabody Journal of Education 35.
• Egerton, John (1979). Nashville: The Faces of Two Centuries, 1780–1980. Nashville, Tennessee: PlusMedia. LCCN 79089173.
• Doyle, Don H. (1985). Nashville Since the 1920s
• Anita Shafer Goodstein (1989), Nashville, 1780-1860: from frontier to city, Gainesville: University of Florida Press, ISBN 0813009405
• Don Harrison Doyle (1990), New Men, New Cities, New South: Atlanta, Nashville, Charleston, Mobile, 1860-1910, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, ISBN 0807818836
• Robert G. Spinney (1995). "Municipal Government in Nashville, Tennessee, 1938-1951: World War II and the Growth of the Public Sector". Journal of Southern History 61.
• Lovett, Bobby L. (1999). African-American History of Nashville, Tennessee, 1780–1930: Elites and Dilemmas. University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 1-55728-555-1.

Published in the 21st century

• Carey, Bill (2000). Fortunes, Fiddles, & Fried Chicken: A Nashville Business History. Franklin, Tennessee: Hillsboro Press. ISBN 1-57736-178-4.
• Egerton, John and E. Thomas Wood (eds.) (2001). Nashville: An American Self-Portrait. Nashville, Tennessee: Beaten Biscuit Press. ISBN 0-9706702-1-4.
• Duke, Jan (2005). Historic Photos of Nashville. Nashville, Tennessee: Turner Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59652-184-1.
• David A. Padgett (2007). "Nashville". In Robert D. Bullard. Growing Smarter: Achieving Livable Communities, Environmental Justice, and Regional Equity. MIT Press. p. 127+. ISBN 978-0-262-52470-4.
• McGuire, Jim (2007). Historic Photos of the Opry: Ryman Auditorium 1974. Nashville, Tennessee: Turner Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59652-373-9.
• Zepp, George R. (2009). Hidden History of Nashville. Charleston, South Carolina: History Press. ISBN 978-1-59629-792-0.
• Haugen, Ashley Driggs (2009). Historic Photos of Nashville in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Nashville, Tennessee: Turner Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59652-539-9.
• Houston, Benjamin. The Nashville Way: Racial Etiquette and the Struggle for Social Justice in a Southern City. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0820343273

External links

• "Nashville/Davidson County Timeline". Nashville Public Library.
• "Local History & Information". Nashville Public Library.
• "History of Nashville". Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee.
• Library of Congress, Prints & Photos Division. Materials related to Nashville, Tennessee, various dates
• Tennessee State Library and Archives. Nashville City Directories, various dates (digitized)
• Digital Public Library of America. Items related to Nashville, various dates.

Coordinates: 36°10′00″N 86°47′00″W / 36.166667°N 86.783333°W