Timeline of Nashville, Tennessee facts for kids
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Nashville, Tennessee, United States.
Prior to 19th century
- 1780
- Fort Nashborough established.
- Cumberland Compact signed; Cumberland Association formed.
- 1784 – Nashville established.
- 1785 – Davidson Academy incorporated.
- 1789 – Methodist church built.
- 1796 – Settlement becomes part of the state of Tennessee.
- 1797 – Tennessee Gazette and Mero District Advertiser newspaper begins publication.
19th century
- 1806
- Town incorporated.
- Joseph Coleman becomes mayor.
- 1812 – Tennessee General Assembly relocates to Nashville from Knoxville.
- 1813 – Nashville Library Co., Inc. established.
- 1817 – Tennessee General Assembly relocates from Nashville to Knoxville.
- 1818
- Earl's Nashville Museum opens.
- Population: 3,000 (approximate).
- 1820 – Christian Church built.
- 1822 – Nashville City Cemetery established.
- 1823 – Presbyterian church built.
- 1825 – Decker & Dyer Reading Room established.
- 1826
- Tennessee General Assembly relocates to Nashville from Murfreesboro.
- Cumberland College opened.
- 1829 – Christ Church built.
- 1830 – Population: 5,566.
- 1831 – Tennessee State Penitentiary built.
- 1833 – Water-works established.
- 1835 – Tennessee Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge organized.
- 1837 – House of Industry for Females established.
- 1838 – First Baptist Church built.
- 1840 – Population: 6,929.
- 1841 – Mechanics' Library Association formed.
- 1842 – Burns & Co. in business.
- 1843 – Nashville becomes capital of Tennessee.
- 1844 – Tennessee School for the Blind and Mechanics Institute and Library Association established.
- 1845 – Protestant Orphan Asylum established.
- 1847 – St. Mary's Cathedral built.
- 1849 – Merchants' Library and Reading Room and Tennessee Historical Society founded.
- 1850
- June: Nashville Convention held.
- Suspension bridge built over the Cumberland River.
- Population: 10,165.
- 1851
- Nashville Gas Light Company in operation.
- Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway starts operating.
- 1852
- Public school system inaugurated.
- Davidson County Jail built.
- 1854
- Southern Methodist Publishing House headquartered in Nashville.
- Tennessee State Library established.
- 1855 – Giers photo studio in business.
- 1856 – Church of the Assumption built.
- 1857 – Davidson County Court House rebuilt.
- 1858 – City Workhouse and Church of St. Ann's built.
- 1859
- Tennessee State Capitol, draw-bridge, and Central Baptist Church built.
- Louisville and Nashville Railroad begins operating.
- 1860 - Population: 16,988.
- 1862
- City under Union control.
- Fort Negley built.
- 1863 – St. Mary's Catholic Orphan Asylum founded.
- 1864 – December 15–16: Battle of Nashville.
- 1865 – Fisk Free Colored School, Ward Seminary for Young Ladies, and Earhart's Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College established.
- 1866 – Central Tennessee College founded.
- 1867
- Montgomery Bell Academy opens.
- Nashville Lyceum Association incorporated.
- 1869 – Howard Chapel built.
- 1870
- Sulphur Dell ballpark opens.
- Population: 25,865.
- 1871
- Tennessee and Pacific Railroad (Lebanon-Nashville) begins operating.
- Fisk University Jubilee Singers, Library Association, and Nashville Saddlery Company established.
- 1873 – Vanderbilt University established.
- 1874 – Hebrew temple and First Cumberland Presbyterian Church built.
- 1876 – Nashville Banner newspaper begins publication.
- 1880 – Population: 43,350.
- 1884 – Nashville Athletic Club formed.
- 1885 – Industrial School and Query Club (women's group) established.
- 1889
- The Hermitage museum opens.
- Boscobel College for Young Ladies established.
- Peabody Normal College active.
- 1890 – Population: 76,168.
- 1891
- Nashville Bible School founded.
- Cumberland Park opened as a horse racing track.
- 1892
- March 17: St. Patrick's Day Snowstorm dumps 17 inches of snow on the city.
- Union Gospel Tabernacle built.
- Maxwell House coffee introduced.
- 1893 - Tennessee Central Railway starts operating.
- 1894 - United Daughters of the Confederacy headquartered in Nashville.
- 1897
- Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition held.
- Parthenon opened, a replica of the original, functions as an art museum.
- 1898
- Howard Library established.
- Tennessee State Penitentiary rebuilt.
- 1900
- Meharry Medical College active.
- Population: 80,865.
- Polk Place demolished.
20th century
1900s-1940s
- 1904 – Carnegie Library opens.
- 1905 – Centennial Club (women's group) active.
- 1906
- Tennessee State Fair begins.
- Nashville Globe newspaper begins publication.
- 1907 – Nashville Tennessean newspaper in publication.
- 1909
- Sparkman Street Bridge opens.
- Cumberland College closes.
- 1910
- Nashville Art Association chartered
- Hermitage Hotel in business
- Advance Publishing Company incorporated
- Population: 110,364
- 1912 - Urban League branch established.
- 1916 – Nashville Housewives League organized.
- 1918
- July 9: Great Train Wreck of 1918.
- 1918 influenza epidemic.
- 1920 – Population: 118,342.
- 1922 - Nashville's first radio station, WDAA, signs on
- 1925
- War Memorial Auditorium dedicated.
- WSM radio and its Grand Ole Opry begin broadcasting.
- Belcourt Theatre built.
- 1926 - WLAC radio begins broadcasting.
- 1927
- Warner Parks open.
- WSIX radio begins broadcasting.
- 1930
- First American National Bank formed.
- Population: 153,866.
- 1931
- Nashville Children's Theatre established.
- Parthenon rebuilt.
- 1936 – Berry Field (airport) dedicated.
- 1937 – Tennessee State Museum established.
- 1940 - Population: 167,402.
- 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.
- 1951
- Ben West becomes mayor.
- The Harpeth Hall School opens.
- 1952 - Tennessee Theatre opens.
- 1953 – WSIX-TV begins broadcasting.
- 1954 – WLAC-TV begins broadcasting.
- 1955 - Brothers Owen and Harold Bradley establish Bradley Film and Recording Studio, the first studio in what will become Nashville's Music Row neighborhood.
- 1957
- Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway stops operating.
- Life & Casualty Tower built.
- RCA Studios begins operation at the corner of 17th Ave. S. and Hawkins St. It will become known as RCA Studio B.
- 1960
- Nashville sit-ins for civil rights occur.
- Cheekwood Museum opens.
- Population: 170,874.
- 1961 – Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum established.
- 1962
- WDCN-TV begins broadcasting.
- Nashville Municipal Auditorium opens.
- 1963
- City consolidates its government with Davidson County.
- Metropolitan Council (Nashville) established.
- Beverly Briley becomes mayor.
- 1964 - American Association for State and Local History headquartered in Nashville.
- 1967 – 100 Oaks Mall in business near city.
- 1968 – Third National Bank Building constructed.
- 1970 - Population: 448,003.
- 1972
- Fan Fair music festival begins.
- Opryland USA opens.
- 1974
- Regions Center (Nashville) built.
- Grand Ole Opry House opens.
- 1975 – Richard Fulton becomes mayor.
- 1978 - The Nashville Sounds minor-league baseball team plays its inaugural season.
- 1980
- Tennessee Performing Arts Center opens.
- Sri Ganesha Temple established.
- Population: 455,651.
- 1981 – Nashville Opera Guild chartered.
- 1982 - Foreign trade zone established.
- Bluebird Cafe opens
- 1983 - Nissan car manufactory begins operating in nearby Smyrna.
- 1985 – Starwood Amphitheatre opens.
- 1986 – Tennessee Players founded.
- 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).
- 1990
- Grassmere Wildlife Park established.
- Population: 488,374.
- 1991 – Phil Bredesen becomes mayor.
- 1994
- City website online.
- South Central Bell Building constructed.
- American Airlines begins nonstop service between London and Nashville.
- 1996
- Bicentennial Mall State Park opens.
- Magdalene program for women, and Nashville Zoo at Grassmere established.
- Nashville Arena built.
- 1998
- April 15–16: Tornado.
- After playing in Memphis for one season, the Tennessee OIlers football team plays its first Nashville games at Vanderbilt Stadium.
- Nashville Predators ice hockey team formed.
- 1999
- Adelphia Coliseum opens.
- Bill Purcell becomes mayor.
- Al Gore presidential campaign, 2000 headquartered in city.
- 2000 – The City Paper begins publication.
21st century
- 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.
- Car manufacturer Nissan's North American headquarters in business in nearby Franklin.
- 2007 – Karl Dean becomes mayor.
- 2008 – Nashville for All of Us (group) organized.
- 2009
- Third Man Records in business.
- The Pinnacle at Symphony Place built.
- Live on the Green begins.
- Voters reject Nashville English Only Amendment.
- 2010
- April–May: Flood.
- Population: 601,222.
- 2011
- October: Occupy Nashville begins.
- Parnassus Books in business.
- 2012
- March: Occupy Vanderbilt begins.
- MyCity Academy (government program) established.
- Fictional Nashville TV series makes national premiere on ABC, transfers to CMT in 2016 after being canceled by the former and due to fan efforts
- 2013 – Music City Center opens.
- 2015
- Construction begins on 505 skyscraper.
- Megan Barry becomes mayor.
- 2020
- Tornado outbreak of March 2-3, 2020: 22 people killed in tornadoes in Tennessee and Kentucky; the Nashville EF-3 tornado, which kills 4, north of downtown, somewhat mirrors the 1998 tornado's path
- The Nashville bombing occurs, injuring eight people and causing major damage
- 2023 – The Covenant School shooting occurs, killing six people and the perpetrator.
- Freddie O'Connell becomes mayor.
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Timeline of Nashville, Tennessee Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.