TIMELINE FOR NASHVILLE /
DAVIDSON COUNTY
1700s and
Earlier |
1800-1849
| 1850-1899 (this page) |
1900-1949 |
1950-1999 |
2000+ |
| 1850-1899 | |
| 1850 | The first steam engine, the No. 1, ordered by the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, arrives in Nashville. |
| 1851 | The first gas street lamp is lighted on 2nd Avenue North at the public square. |
| 1852 | A public school system is authorized by the City Aldermen. |
| 1852 | Littlebury W. Fussell is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1854 | E. B. Bigley is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1855 | Mount Olivet Cemetery is created. |
| 1855 | Nashville's first public school opens on the northeast corner of the intersection of 8th Avenue North and Broad Street. |
| 1857 | John K. Edmundson is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1858 | James Hinton is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1859 | Construction begins on the Maxwell House Hotel. |
| 1859 | Robert Campbell is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1859 | The Tennessee State Capitol building is completed. |
| 1860 | John K. Edmundson is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1861 | The Civil War begins. |
| 1862 | Federal troops occupy Nashville, which becomes the first southern capitol city to fall to the Union Army. |
| 1862 | James M. Hinton is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1865 | The Civil War ends. |
| 1865 | The first mule-drawn streetcars appear in Nashville. |
| 1866 | E. E. Patterson is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1866 | Fisk University is founded. |
| 1867 | John Berrien Lindsley founds Montgomery Bell Academy, using funds left to the University of Nashville by Montgomery Bell at his death in 1855. |
| 1868 | C. M. Donelson is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1869 | Mount Ararat Cemetery is established. |
| 1871 | The Fisk Jubilee Singers begin a series of singing tours to raise money for their struggling school. |
| 1872 | E. D. Whitworth is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1873 | Sampson Keeble becomes the first black man to serve in the Tennessee General Assembly. |
| 1873 | Vanderbilt University is founded. |
| 1876 | Francis M. Woodall is Sheriff of Davidson County. Prior to his election as Sheriff, he was a Constable for six years and a Deputy Sheriff for four years. |
| 1876 | Jubilee Hall is built, becoming the first building in the United States constructed for the higher education of African-Americans. |
| 1876 | Meharry Medical College is founded. |
| 1877 | Nashville's first telephone call is placed. |
| 1877 | The world's first air mail is flow from Nashville to nearby Gallatin...via balloon. |
| 1878 | John L. Price is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1880 | Nashville celebrates the centennial year of its founding (the signing of the Cumberland Compact). |
| 1881 | Tim Johnson is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1882 | Nashville's first electric lights appear. |
| 1883 | T. E. Moore is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1885 | The first professional baseball game in Nashville is played in Athletic Park near the Sulphur Spring Bottom, north of downtown. |
| 1887 | R. D. Marshall is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1889 | Electric trolleys replace the mule-drawn streetcars. |
| 1889 | The Tennessee legislature passes a poll tax as a prerequisite for voting. |
| 1890 | General Hospital opens with 60 beds. |
| 1890 | Vanderbilt plays Peabody in Nashville's first football game. (Who won? Anyone know?) |
| 1891 | David Lipscomb College begins as the Nashville Bible School. |
| 1891 | W. J. Hill is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1892 | The Union Gospel Tabernacle, later known as the Ryman Auditorium, is completed. |
| 1895 | J. D. Sharp is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
| 1896 | The first automobile is driven in Nashville. |
| 1897 | The Centennial Exposition opens, with the Parthenon as its showpiece. |
| 1899 | Lewis Hurt is Sheriff of Davidson County. |
1700s
and Earlier |
1800-1849 |
1850-1899 (this page) |
1900-1949 |
1950-1999 |
2000+ |