History · Nashville

Nashville has 194 places on the National Register, 8 of them National Historic Landmarks

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #29 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it

With 6% of its homes built before 1940 and 40 historic districts holding 5,591 contributing buildings. Most of Nashville was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1932 on, old-book passages, and every listing on the Register.

194on the National Register

6%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

About Nashville’s history

How historic is Nashville?

B⁺

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

History grade

What drives Nashville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nashville is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #29 of 177 in Tennessee. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nashville’s overall grade.

Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19406.1% of homes (±0.4) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%C National Register194 listings, 5,591 historic buildings, 78.2 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4A

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 74%

NewerOlder

Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 84%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Nashville ranks #151 on History.

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 Nashville’s 78.2 sits above most of its state (88% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 5,591 historic buildings outnumber those of 100% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. 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 Nashville’s past

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

A National Historic Landmark194 places on the National Register, 8 of them National Historic Landmarks.A historic districtThe Hillsboro-West End Historic District takes in 995 historic buildings.Lost villages58 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Nashville, and 126 old place names are still on the map.A town of family graveyards105 cemeteries and burying grounds inside Nashville.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

194 listings protect 5,591 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 8 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

194

National Historic Landmarks

Hermitage Hotel

historic buildings protected

5,591

each building in a district counts

first listed

1966

George Peabody College for Teachers

BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival1

Ranch1

Dutch Colonial1

★ Landmark

Hermitage HotelBuilt 1908

★ Landmark

George Peabody College for TeachersBuilt 1875

★ Landmark

Hermitage, TheBuilt 1835

★ Landmark

Nashville Union StationBuilding

★ Landmark

First Presbyterian ChurchBuilt 1846

★ Landmark

Tennessee State CapitolBuilt 1859

★ Landmark

Ryman AuditoriumBuilt 1892

★ Landmark

Jubilee Hall, Fisk UniversityBuilt 1876

All 180 listings

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Nashville’s post office has been open since 1796. 58 other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Nashville

1796–today

Mount View

1827–1852

Pleasant Hill

1830–1848

Tusculum

1831–1844

Stewart's Ferry

1833–1902

South Harpeth

1837–1838

White Creek Springs

1838–1849

Fairview

1847–1848

Mc Whirtersville

1852–1852

Tank

1853–1867

17901910today

Hamlets and corners on the map

AddieAmquiAntiochAntioch ParkAvondaleBakersBakertownBarclay SquareBellevueBellshireBenbarBerryvilleBeverly HeightsBordeauxBordeaux HillsBrooklinBrooklyn HeightsBrookview EstatesBuena Vista EstatesCane RidgeCastlegate EstatesCharlotte ParkCherokee ParkCherry Hills

Gone or out of use

Aharts MilllocaleBakers Grove ChurchchurchBannister MinemineBethel ChurchchurchBranch Grove ChurchchurchBriarville SchoolschoolBrowns SchoolschoolBryant SchoolschoolBuchanan SchoolschoolBuchanan StationlocaleBuena Vista FerrycrossingBuffalo SchoolschoolCambron FieldairportCanebridge SchoolschoolCarlyle FerrycrossingCedar Grove SchoolschoolCentral Tennessee CollegeschoolCity View Sanitariumhospital

105family graveyards and cemeteries inside Nashville

ArnoldAustinBakerBattleBeech GroveBenevolentBonerBordeaux Gardens ParkBryantown FamilyBuchananBurnettCalvaryCane Ridge Cumberland PresbyterianCarperCassmanCastlemanCastlemanCastlemanCharltonCharltonCoggins-GreerConeConfederate MemorialCowgillDobsonDry CreekDukesEllisEskridgeForest GroveFoster-OwensFuquaFuquaFuquaGambillGleavesGoodmanGrayGreenvilleGreenwoodGregoryGriffinHamiltonHamiltonHarpeth Hills Memory GardensHayesHermitage Memorial GardensHillHills of Calvary Memorial ParkHollowayHugginsHugginsHurtIvy PointJenkinsJoeltonJohn BuchananKingLassiterLeighLutonsMannMcClendonMcClendonMiddle Tennessee State VeteransMill Creek Baptist ChurchMillerMooreMorrowMount AraratMount OlivetMurrellNashville NationalNashville NationalOaklandPagePainterPasquoPealPerryPerryPhillipsPotters FieldPughRichesonRoachRoweSandersSebringSlaveSouth HarpethSpring HillSteeleStewartTempleTensionTilghamTurnerUnion HillWaldronWebbWhiteWhiteWhitsettWright

See all 105

Arnold Cemetery · Austin Cemetery · Baker Cemetery · Battle Cemetery · Beech Grove Cemetery · Benevolent Cemetery · Boner Cemetery · Bordeaux Gardens Park · Bryantown Family Cemetery · Buchanan Cemetery · Burnett Cemetery · Calvary Cemetery · Cane Ridge Cumberland Presbyterian Cemetery · Carper Cemetery · Cassman Cemetery · Castleman Cemetery · Castleman Cemetery · Castleman Cemetery · Charlton Cemetery · Charlton Cemetery · Coggins-Greer Cemetery · Cone Cemetery · Confederate Memorial Cemetery · Cowgill Cemetery · Dobson Cemetery · Dry Creek Cemetery · Dukes Cemetery · Ellis Cemetery · Eskridge Cemetery · Forest Grove Cemetery · Foster-Owens Cemetery · Fuqua Cemetery · Fuqua Cemetery · Fuqua Cemetery · Gambill Cemetery · Gleaves Cemetery · Goodman Cemetery · Gray Cemetery · Greenville Cemetery · Greenwood Cemetery · Gregory Cemetery · Griffin Cemetery · Hamilton Cemetery · Hamilton Cemetery · Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens · Hayes Cemetery · Hermitage Memorial Gardens · Hill Cemetery · Hills of Calvary Memorial Park · Holloway Cemetery · Huggins Cemetery · Huggins Cemetery · Hurt Cemetery · Ivy Point Cemetery · Jenkins Cemetery · Joelton Cemetery · John Buchanan Cemetery · King Cemetery · Lassiter Cemetery · Leigh Cemetery · Lutons Cemetery · Mann Cemetery · McClendon Cemetery · McClendon Cemetery · Middle Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery · Mill Creek Baptist Church Graveyard · Miller Cemetery · Moore Cemetery · Morrow Cemetery · Mount Ararat Cemetery · Mount Olivet Cemetery · Murrell Cemetery · Nashville National Cemetery · Nashville National Cemetery · Oakland Cemetery · Page Cemetery · Painter Cemetery · Pasquo Cemetery · Peal Cemetery · Perry Cemetery · Perry Cemetery · Phillips Cemetery · Potters Field · Pugh Cemetery · Richeson Cemetery · Roach Cemetery · Rowe Cemetery · Sanders Cemetery · Sebring Cemetery · Slave Cemetery · South Harpeth Cemetery · Spring Hill Cemetery · Steele Cemetery · Stewart Cemetery · Temple Cemetery · Tension Cemetery · Tilgham Cemetery · Turner Cemetery · Union Hill Cemetery · Waldron Cemetery · Webb Cemetery · White Cemetery · White Cemetery · Whitsett Cemetery · Wright Cemetery

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Nashville, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Nashville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 626,681 to 715,884 (+14%).

From the old history books

What they wrote about Nashville in 1897

Passages that mention Nashville, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Reached from Nashville via boat on Cumberland River, or by railroad to Cumberland City, Tenn., on Memphis branch of Louisville & Nashville Railroad, and thence by stage, a distance of seventeen miles, to Dover, Tenn. The distance by river is one hundred miles, and by rail and stage ninety-nine mile… — **Tennessee Centennial Exposition, Nashville, open until November 1, 1897**1897 · page 41Read the page →
Read the text
Reached from Nashville via boat on Cumberland River, or by railroad to Cumberland City, Tenn., on Memphis branch of Louisville & Nashville Railroad, and thence by stage, a distance of seventeen miles, to Dover, Tenn. The distance by river is one hundred miles, and by rail and stage ninety-nine miles.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

West Side Park was chosen as the site, and the corner-stone of the first building, the Parthenon, was laid October 5, 1895. Two days later the city of Nashville voted $100,000 to the Exposition. Designs for four other buildings were adopted in December, and work was begun even before the winter was… — **Tennessee Centennial Exposition, Nashville, open until November 1, 1897**1897 · page 48Read the page →
Read the text
West Side Park was chosen as the site, and the corner-stone of the first building, the Parthenon, was laid October 5, 1895. Two days later the city of Nashville voted $100,000 to the Exposition. Designs for four other buildings were adopted in December, and work was begun even before the winter was over. June, 1896, found the enterprise well under way, and the Centennial of the State's admission was celebrated that day with imposing exercises and the greatest parade in the history of the South.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Nashville, 1796 to 2020

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

18th century
1796Post officeThe Nashville post office opens
19th century
1827Post officeThe Mount View post office opens
1830Post officeThe Pleasant Hill post office opens
1835BuiltHermitage, The is built
1846BuiltFirst Presbyterian Church is built
1848Post officeThe Pleasant Hill post office closes
1852Post officeThe Mount View post office closes
1875BuiltGeorge Peabody College for Teachers is built
20th century
1908BuiltHermitage Hotel is built
1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1960LandmarkHermitage, The named a National Historic Landmark
1965LandmarkGeorge Peabody College for Teachers named a National Historic Landmark
1971LandmarkTennessee State Capitol named a National Historic Landmark
1974LandmarkJubilee Hall, Fisk University named a National Historic Landmark
1976LandmarkNashville Union Station named a National Historic Landmark
1993LandmarkFirst Presbyterian Church named a National Historic Landmark
21st century
2001LandmarkRyman Auditorium named a National Historic Landmark
2020LandmarkHermitage Hotel named a National Historic Landmark

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.

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On the map

Nashville on the map, 1932 to 1997

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

1932Nashville 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 Nashville.

Help out

Start Nashville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

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Stories next door

History across the town line

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

La VergneIts storyD MillersvilleIts storyD Hendersonville5 historic placesB⁻Goodlettsville2 historic placesC Rural HillIts storyD⁻Brentwood19 historic placesC⁺Ashland City1 historic placeC⁻Green Hill1 historic placeC⁺Coopertown1 historic placeC Mount Juliet4 historic placesC⁺

Questions about Nashville’s history

How does Nashville rank for history?

Nashville is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #29 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 Nashville?

194 listings, 8 of them National Historic Landmarks: 131 buildings, among them the Hermitage Hotel (a National Historic Landmark since 2020), 39 historic districts with 5,013 contributing buildings, 6 sites, and 4 structures. 5,591 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Nashville?

6% of Nashville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1986.

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 the National Register of Historic Places (180), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Nashville has 194 places on the National Register, 8 of them National Historic Landmarks

About Nashville’s history

How historic is Nashville?

What drives Nashville’s History grade

What stands out about Nashville’s past

194 listings protect 5,591 historic buildings

Architectural styles listings

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Nashville, in brief

What they wrote about Nashville in 1897

Nashville, 1796 to 2020

No old photos in the archives yet

Nashville on the map, 1932 to 1997

Start Nashville’s collection

History across the town line

Questions about Nashville’s history

Memory lane

Where this page comes from