NASHVILLE-DAVIDSON

formerly (until 1963) Nashville, capital (1843) of Tennessee, U.S., and seat (17841963) of Davidson county. Nashville-Davidson lies in the north-central part of the state, on the Cumberland River. It is the centre of an urbanized area that also embraces parts of Sumner and Wilson counties. Old Hickory Lake, impounded on the river, is 15 miles (24 km) northeast of the city centre. A force behind the area's settlement was Richard Henderson, a North Carolina jurist who in 1775 acquired most of middle Tennessee and Kentucky in the Transylvania Purchase from the Cherokee Indians. In 1779 he sent a party under James Robertson to investigate the Cumberland Valley. They settled at a site known as French Lick and were joined in the spring of 1780 by another group under John Donelson. Fort Nashborough, built at the French Lick site and named for Revolutionary War general Francis Nash, became the centre of the new community. (A replica of the fort stands on a bluff above the river.) Henderson is also credited with having written the Cumberland Compact, the articles of self-government adopted by the settlers. The area was incorporated as the town of Nashville in 1784. Chartered as a city in 1806, the community developed as a river trade depot for middle Tennessee and became the political centre of the state. Its commercial importance was further enhanced by the advent of the railroads in the 1850s. Nashville was occupied by Federal troops in February 1862, and the last major Civil War battle (Dec. 1516, 1864) took place outside the city, when Federal forces under General George H. Thomas defeated the Confederates under General John B. Hood. In April 1963 the city of Nashville and Davidson county were consolidated. They are officially known as Nashville-Davidson city. Nashville's industrial development was accelerated in the 1930s by the availability of cheap electric power from the Tennessee Valley Authority and from the Cumberland River dams. The economy is now well diversified. Several large insurance and finance companies have headquarters there. Manufactures include auto glass, clothing, shoes, heating and cooking equipment, and tires. Nashville is well known for country and western music, which is the basis of a large recording industry in the city. Regular radio broadcasts of the Grand Ole Opry, a traditional country or hillbilly music program, began in Nashville in 1925. Opryland U.S.A. (an entertainment complex highlighting America's musical heritage and the site of many musical festivals) and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum are tourist attractions. The Tennessee State Fair (September) is an annual event. Nashville is also widely known as a religious and educational centre, and several denominations have publishing headquarters there, including the United Methodist Publishing House, one of the largest of its kind in the world. The city is the national headquarters of several boards and agencies of the United Methodist Church and the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention; it is also the international headquarters of the Disciples of Christ Historical Society. Educational institutions affiliated with churches include Belmont University (1890; Tennessee Southern Baptist Convention), David Lipscomb University (1891; Churches of Christ), Fisk University (1866; United Church of Christ), Meharry Medical College (1876; United Methodist), and Trevecca Nazarene College (1901). Nashville is also the seat of Tennessee State University (1912), Vanderbilt University (1873), and Nashville State Technical Institute (1969). In Centennial Park is a full-scale replica of the Parthenon (an Athenian temple), built for the Tennessee Centennial of 1897. The State Capitol (1855) was designed along Greek classical lines by William Strickland, the Philadelphia architect; President James K. Polk is buried in its grounds. The Hermitage, the home and burial place of President Andrew Jackson, is 12 miles (19 km) east of the city centre. Other historic buildings include Belle Meade Mansion, a plantation home built in 1853 on one of America's first thoroughbred horse farms, and Travelers' Rest (1792), built by John Overton (a law partner of Andrew Jackson) and maintained as a museum. Pop. (1990) city-county, 510,784; Nashville MSA, 985,026; (1994 est.) city-county, 530,796; (1995 est.) Nashville MSA, 1,093,836.