Davidson County, Tennessee facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Davidson County
Consolidated city-county
Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
Davidson County Courthouse
Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Tennessee
Tennessee's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Tennessee
Founded	October 6, 1783
Named for	William Lee Davidson
Seat	Nashville
Largest city	Nashville
Area
• Total	526 sq mi (1,360 km2)
• Land	504 sq mi (1,310 km2)
• Water	22 sq mi (60 km2)  4.2%
Population  (2020)
• Total	715,884
• Estimate  (2023)	712,334
• Density	1,361.0/sq mi (525.5/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts	5th, 6th, 7th

Davidson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in the heart of Middle Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 715,884, making it the 2nd most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Nashville, the state capital and most populous city.

Since 1963, the city of Nashville and Davidson County have had a consolidated government called the "Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County", commonly referred to as "Metro Nashville" or "Metro".

Davidson County has the largest population in the 13-county Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin Metropolitan Statistical Area, the state's most populous metropolitan area. Nashville has always been one of the region's centers of commerce, industry, transportation, and culture, but it did not become the capital of Tennessee until 1827 and did not gain permanent capital status until 1843.

History

Davidson County is the oldest county in the 41-county region of Middle Tennessee. It dates to 1783, shortly after the end of the American Revolution, when the North Carolina legislature created the county and named it in honor of William Lee Davidson, a North Carolina general who was killed opposing the crossing of the Catawba River by General Cornwallis's British forces on February 1, 1781. The county seat, Nashville, is the oldest permanent European settlement in Middle Tennessee, founded by James Robertson and John Donelson during the winter of 1779–80 and the waning days of the Revolutionary War.

The first white settlers established the Cumberland Compact to establish a basic rule of law and to protect their land titles. Through much of the early 1780s, the settlers also faced a hostile response from Native American tribes such as the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), and Shawnee who used the area as a hunting ground; they resented the newcomers moving into the area in violation of treaties and competing for its resources. As the county's many known archaeological sites attest, Native American cultures had occupied areas of Davidson County for thousands of years. The first white Americans to enter the area were fur traders. Long hunters came next, having heard about a large salt lick, known as French Lick, where they hunted game and traded with the Native Americans.

In 1765, Timothy Demonbreun, a hunter, trapper, and former Governor of Illinois under the French, and his wife lived in a small cave (now known as Demonbreun's Cave) on the south side of the Cumberland River near present-day downtown Nashville. They were the parents of the first white child to be born in Middle Tennessee. A number of the settlers came from Kentucky and the Upper South. Since the land was fertile, they cultivated hemp and tobacco, using the labor of enslaved African Americans, and also raised blooded livestock of high quality, including horses. Generally holding less land than the plantations of Western Tennessee, many Middle Tennessee planters nevertheless became wealthy during this period.

Map of Tennessee Districts in 1817: Tennessee, Davidson, and Sumner

Davidson County was much larger when it was created in 1783. Its initial boundaries were defined as follows: -

"[A]ll that part of this State lying west of the Cumberland mountain and south of the Virginia line, beginning on the top of Cumberland mountain where the Virginia line crosses, extending westward along the said line to Tennessee River, thence up said river to the mouth of Duck River, then up Duck River to where the line of marked trees run by the commissioners for laying off land granted the Continental line of this State intersects said river (which said line is supposed to be in thirty-five degrees fifty minutes north latitude) thence east along said line to the top of Cumberland mountain, thence northwardly along said mountain to the beginning"

However, four more counties were carved out of Davidson County's territory between 1786 and 1856.

• Sumner County created in 1786
• Williamson County, created in 1799
• Rutherford County, created in 1803 (also included parts of Wilson County)
• Cheatham County, created in 1856 (also included parts of Dickson, Montgomery and Robertson counties)

Following the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the voters of Davidson County voted narrowly in favor of seceding from the United States: 5,635 in favor, 5,572 against. However, the Union Army occupied the county in February 1862, which caused widespread social disruption as the state's governing institutions broke down.

Notable people

See List of people from Nashville, Tennessee for notable people that were residents of both Nashville and Davidson County.

• Kizziah J. Bills, Black American suffragist, a correspondent and columnist for Black press in Chicago, and a civil rights activist. She was raised in Davidson County.
• Newman Haynes Clanton, Democrat, western cattle rustler and outlaw
• Jermain Wesley Loguen, abolitionist leader
• Benjamin "Pap" Singleton, abolitionist leader

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 526 square miles (1,360 km²), of which 504 square miles (1,310 km²) is land and 22 square miles (57 km²) (4.2%) is water.

The Cumberland River flows from east to west through the middle of the county. Two dams within the county are Old Hickory Lock and Dam and J. Percy Priest Dam, operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Important tributaries of the Cumberland in Davidson County include Whites Creek, Manskers Creek, Stones River, Mill Creek, and the Harpeth River.

Adjacent counties

• Robertson County, Tennessee – north
• Sumner County, Tennessee – northeast
• Wilson County, Tennessee – east
• Rutherford County, Tennessee – southeast
• Williamson County, Tennessee – south
• Cheatham County, Tennessee – west

National protected area

• Natchez Trace Parkway (part)

State protected areas

• Bicentennial Mall State Park
• Couchville Cedar Glade State Natural Area (part)
• Harpeth River State Park (part)
• Hill Forest State Natural Area
• Long Hunter State Park (part)
• Mount View Glade State Natural Area
• Percy Priest Wildlife Management Area (part)
• Radnor Lake State Natural Area

Major highways

Demographics

Age pyramid Davidson County

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 715,884 people, 289,427 households, and 152,833 families residing in the county.

Communities

All of Davidson County is encompassed under the consolidated Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. However, several municipalities that were incorporated before consolidation retain some autonomy as independent municipalities. These are:

• Belle Meade
• Berry Hill
• Forest Hills
• Goodlettsville (partly in Sumner County)
• Oak Hill
• Ridgetop (primarily in Robertson County)

For U.S. Census purposes, the portions of Davidson County that lie outside the boundaries of the six independently incorporated municipalities are collectively treated as the Nashville-Davidson balance.

Neighborhoods

Before consolidation occurred, there were several other communities that were previously unincorporated, while others relinquished their municipal charters. Now neighborhoods of Nashville, they maintain historical identities to varying degrees. These include:

Education

Metropolitan Nashville Public School District is the school district of the entire county.

Tennessee School for the Blind is a state-operated school in Nashville.

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Davidson (Tennessee) para niños