Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Belle Meade

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Belle Meade

Belle Meade dates to 1938, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #63 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Belle Meade, the Belle Meade Apartments and the William T. Cheek Sr. House. Its Register listings are the Belle Meade, the Belle Meade Apartments and the William T. Cheek Sr. House. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1932 on, and the census since 1940.

1938founded
3on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
13old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Belle Meade’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Belle Meade began

When was Belle Meade founded?

1938

Belle Meade dates its founding to 1938 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1940.

First census: 2,061 in 19402020 census: 2,90188 years

How historic is Belle Meade?

B

More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Belle Meade’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belle Meade is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #63 of 177 in Tennessee. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belle Meade’s overall grade.
Founding era1938, from Wikipedia: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194036.5% of homes (±7.6) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register3 listings, 4 historic buildings, 14.8 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 61%
NewerOlder
Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 65%

Tennessee towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Tennessee town has 6.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Belle Meade’s 14.8 sits above most of its state (68% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1938.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.6 points).

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Belle Meade’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Mystery photos13 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.A town in old photos13 old photos, postcards and papers.Old housesHalf of Belle Meade’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Belle Meade’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Belle Meade’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo13 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewTom Collins Record producer June 2018: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
By decade

Belle Meade, decade by decade

Date unknown13 to date
Tom Collins Record producer June 2018Date?Tom Collins Record producer June 2018WTN PeepHoles 090Date?WTN PeepHoles 090WTN PeepHoles 091Date?WTN PeepHoles 091WTN PeepHoles 092Date?WTN PeepHoles 092WTN PeepHoles 093Date?WTN PeepHoles 093WTN PeepHoles 094Date?WTN PeepHoles 094WTN PeepHoles 095Date?WTN PeepHoles 095WTN PeepHoles 096Date?WTN PeepHoles 096WTN PeepHoles 097Date?WTN PeepHoles 097WTN PeepHoles 098Date?WTN PeepHoles 098WTN PeepHoles 100Date?WTN PeepHoles 100WTN PeepHoles 101Date?WTN PeepHoles 101WTN PeepHoles 102Date?WTN PeepHoles 102
Today2 recent
Belle Meade Links neighborhood map, Nashville, Tennessee (from OpenStreetMap)2015Belle Meade Links neighborhood map, Nashville, Tennes…MapBelle Meade Apartments2014Belle Meade Apartments
The story

How Belle Meade came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Belle Meade.

Read it all →

Belle Meade Plantation— The Belle Meade Plantation once encompassed a vast estate known internationally for its thoroughbred horse breeding. It was founded by planter John Harding and was passed down to his son, William Giles Harding. Before the Civil War, the younger Harding more than doubled the property and in 1853 built a Greek revival mansion, with the labor of the 136 enslaved African people. At its height, the property grew to an eight-square-mile estate nationally renowned for its thoroughbred horse breeding,

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Belle Meade, 1807 to 1938

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1807BuiltBelle Meade is built
  3. 1808Born hereWilliam Giles Harding is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901Born hereWilliam Harding Jackson is born here
  6. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1938
    FoundingBelle Meade is established
On the map

Belle Meade on the map, 1932 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Belle Meade. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Belle Meade on the 1932 USGS mapBelle Meade on the 1953 USGS mapBelle Meade on the 1968 USGS mapBelle Meade on the 1983 USGS mapBelle Meade on the 1997 USGS map1932Nashville sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Belle Meade.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Tom Collins Record producer June 2018
Retake this viewTom Collins Record producer June 2018

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Belle Meade’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Belle Meade

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1969
Belle Meade
Belle Meade, built 1807Belle Meade Apartments
Buildings
Belle MeadeBuilt 1807
Belle Meade ApartmentsBuilding
All 3 listings
William T. Cheek Sr. HouseBuilding · listed 2026

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Belle Meade, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,50019401960198020002020Peak: 3,182

Between 2,061 and 3,182 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Belle Meade’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Belle Meade

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
William Harding JacksonAmerican spy · b. 1901
William Giles HardingAmerican general and planter · b. 1808
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Forest Hills9 historic placesB−

Questions about Belle Meade’s history

What year was Belle Meade founded?

In 1938, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1940 counted 2,061 people here.

How does Belle Meade rank for history?

Belle Meade is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #63 of 177 in Tennessee. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Belle Meade?

Three places: the Belle Meade (listed 1969), the Belle Meade Apartments (1984) and the William T. Cheek Sr. House (2026).

How old are the homes in Belle Meade?

37% of Belle Meade’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1956.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (15), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.