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 – Waterworks 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. (includes timeline) 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. 1937 Berry Field dedicated. Now Nashville International Airport. 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. (Timeline) 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. 2016 – The 2016 NHL All-Star Game is hosted in Bridgestone Arena. 2018 – Flights to Heathrow Airport out of BNA begin, marking the first transatlantic flights since 1995. 2019 – The 2019 NFL draft is hosted on Lower Broadway. 2020 Population: 689,447 Nashville SC begins play in Major League Soccer, the highest tier of association football in the United States. 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 2023 NHL Entry Draft is hosted in Bridgestone Arena. The Covenant School shooting occurs, killing six people and the perpetrator. Freddie O'Connell becomes mayor. 2024 Construction on the New Nissan Stadium begins. Oracle Corporation announces it will relocate its headquarters to Nashville. O'Connell's $3.1 billion "Choose How You Move" transit plan is announced. 2025 Nonstop flights to Dublin and Keflavík begin. Construction on future tallest building Paramount Tower begins. Nashville SC wins its first trophy by beating Austin FC in the 2025 U.S. Open Cup final. The Tennessee Performing Arts Center announces a new $620 million facility on the East Bank. 2026 Flights on Southwest Airlines to Juan Santamaría International Airport in San José, Costa Rica begin, the first to Central America out of BNA. Starbucks announces its Southeastern United States headquarters will be built in Nashville. Nashville and New Nissan Stadium are unanimously awarded Super Bowl LXIV.
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 Nashville sister city timelines: Caen, Magdeburg Timelines of other cities in Tennessee: Chattanooga, Clarksville, Knoxville, Memphis, Murfreesboro Nashville Market House
References
Bibliography
Published in 19th century
Published in 20th century
1900s-1940s
Map
1950s-1990s
Doyle, Don H. (1985). Nashville Since the 1920s (Includes information about Nashville)
Published in 21st century
External links
Library of Congress, Prints & Photos Division. Materials related to Nashville, Tennessee, various dates