Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Nolensville

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
B−History
History · Nolensville

Nolensville dates to 1797, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns · #85 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it

Most of Nolensville was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2012. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1880.

1797founded
4on the National Register
0.8%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Nolensville began

When was Nolensville founded?

1797

Nolensville dates its founding to 1797 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 145 in 18802020 census: 13,829229 years

How historic is Nolensville?

B−

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1820.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Nolensville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nolensville is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #85 of 177 in Tennessee. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nolensville’s overall grade.
Founding era1797, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19400.8% of homes (±0.9) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register4 listings, 7 historic buildings, 4.6 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 49%
NewerOlder
Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 52%

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 Nolensville’s 4.6 sits near the middle of its state (46% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±0.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1797.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Nolensville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Nolensville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1797: 229 years of Nolensville.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Nolensville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Nolensville, 1797 to 1997

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1797
    FoundingNolensville is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1820Post officeThe Nolensville post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1937BuiltNolensville School is built
  7. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1997Born hereChris Rowland is born here
On the National Register

4 historic places in Nolensville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Bank of Nolensville
Bank of NolensvilleJordan-Williams HouseSherwood Green HouseNolensville School, built 1937
Buildings
Bank of NolensvilleBuilding
Jordan-Williams HouseBuilding
Sherwood Green HouseBuilding
Nolensville SchoolBuilt 1937

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

The story

How Nolensville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Nolensville.

Read it all →

This area was settled by European Americans after the American Revolutionary War, when pioneers began to move west of the Appalachian Mountains. William Nolen, a war veteran, his wife, Sarah, and their five children were passing through the area in 1797 when their wagon wheel broke (The town's nickname is now called "Broken wheel town". Surveying his surroundings, Nolen noted the rich soil and abundance of natural resources. He decided to settle here and the community was later named for him as Nolensville. William Nolen purchased a portion of a land grant made to Jason Thompson, on which Nolensville later developed. Nolen's historic house was moved to a new location in 2009.

ChaptersPost-World War II to present

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Nolensville, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Nolensville High School2020Nolensville High SchoolSherwood Green House2013Sherwood Green HouseNolensville Town Hall2013Nolensville Town HallNolensville School2013Nolensville SchoolJordan-Williams House2013Jordan-Williams HouseBank of2013Bank of
On the map

Nolensville on the map, 1957 to 1979

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

Nolensville on the 1957 USGS mapNolensville on the 1979 USGS map1957Nolensville sheet · 1:24,000

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

People over time

Nolensville, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,0001880190019201940196019802000202013,829

Grew from 145 people in 1880 to 13,829 in 2020, more than tenfold.

5 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Nolensville’s post office has been open since 1820.

Hamlets and corners on the map
StonebrookSunset Acres
Gone or out of use
Redmon Quarrymine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Nolensville
MortonNolensvilleSmith

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Brentwood19 historic placesC+Nashville194 historic placesB+

Questions about Nolensville’s history

What year was Nolensville founded?

In 1797, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Nolensville’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1880 counted 145 people here.

How does Nolensville rank for history?

Nolensville is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #85 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 Nolensville?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Bank of Nolensville (listed 1988, the first). 7 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Nolensville?

0.8% of Nolensville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 2012.

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 (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.