Prior to 19th century

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• 1780
  • Fort Nashborough established.
  • Cumberland Compact signed; Cumberland Association formed.
• 1784 – Nashville established.
• 1785 – Davidson Academy incorporated.
• 1789 – Methodist church built.
• 1796 – Settlement becomes part of the state of Tennessee.
• 1797 – Tennessee Gazette and Mero District Advertiser newspaper begins publication.

19th century

• 1806
  • Town incorporated.
  • Joseph Coleman becomes mayor.
• 1812 – Tennessee General Assembly relocates to Nashville from Knoxville.
• 1813 – Nashville Library Co., Inc. established.
• 1817 – Tennessee General Assembly relocates from Nashville to Knoxville.
• 1818
  • Earl's Nashville Museum opens.
  • Population: 3,000 (approximate).
• 1820 – Christian Church built.
• 1822 – Nashville City Cemetery established.
• 1823 – Presbyterian church built.
• 1825 – Decker & Dyer Reading Room established.
• 1826
  • Tennessee General Assembly relocates to Nashville from Murfreesboro.
  • Cumberland College opened.
• 1829 – Christ Church built.
• 1830 – Population: 5,566.
• 1831 – Tennessee State Penitentiary built.
• 1833 – Water-works established.
• 1835 – Tennessee Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge organized.
• 1837 – House of Industry for Females established.
• 1838 – First Baptist Church built.
• 1840 – Population: 6,929.
• 1841 – Mechanics' Library Association formed.
• 1842 – Burns & Co. in business.
• 1843 – Nashville becomes capital of Tennessee.
• 1844 – Tennessee School for the Blind and Mechanics Institute and Library Association established.
• 1845 – Protestant Orphan Asylum established.
• 1847 – St. Mary's Cathedral built.
• 1849 – Merchants' Library and Reading Room and Tennessee Historical Society founded.
• 1850
  • June: Nashville Convention held.
  • Suspension bridge built over the Cumberland River.
  • Population: 10,165.
• 1851
  • Nashville Gas Light Company in operation.
  • Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway starts operating.
• 1852
  • Public school system inaugurated.
  • Davidson County Jail built.
• 1854
  • Southern Methodist Publishing House headquartered in Nashville.
  • Tennessee State Library established.
• 1855 – Giers photo studio in business.
• 1856 – Church of the Assumption built.
• 1857 – Davidson County Court House rebuilt.
• 1858 – City Workhouse and Church of St. Ann's built.
• 1859
  • Tennessee State Capitol, draw-bridge, and Central Baptist Church built.
  • Louisville and Nashville Railroad begins operating.
• 1860 - Population: 16,988.
• 1862
  • City under Union control.
  • Fort Negley built.
• 1863 – St. Mary's Catholic Orphan Asylum founded.
• 1864 – December 15–16: Battle of Nashville.
• 1865 – Fisk Free Colored School, Ward Seminary for Young Ladies, and Earhart's Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College established.
• 1866 – Central Tennessee College founded.
• 1867
  • Montgomery Bell Academy opens.
  • Nashville Lyceum Association incorporated.
• 1869 – Howard Chapel built.
• 1870
  • Sulphur Dell ballpark opens.
  • Population: 25,865.
• 1871
  • Tennessee and Pacific Railroad (Lebanon-Nashville) begins operating.
  • Fisk University Jubilee Singers, Library Association, and Nashville Saddlery Company established.
• 1873 – Vanderbilt University established.
• 1874 – Hebrew temple and First Cumberland Presbyterian Church built.
• 1876 – Nashville Banner newspaper begins publication.
• 1880 – Population: 43,350.
• 1884 – Nashville Athletic Club formed.
• 1885 – Industrial School and Query Club (women's group) established.
• 1889
  • The Hermitage museum opens.
  • Boscobel College for Young Ladies established.
  • Peabody Normal College active.
• 1890 – Population: 76,168.
• 1891
  • Nashville Bible School founded.
  • Cumberland Park opened as a horse racing track.
• 1892
  • March 17: St. Patrick's Day Snowstorm dumps 17 inches of snow on the city.
  • Union Gospel Tabernacle built.
  • Maxwell House coffee introduced.
• 1893 - Tennessee Central Railway starts operating.
• 1894 - United Daughters of the Confederacy headquartered in Nashville.
• 1897
  • Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition held.
  • Parthenon opened, a replica of the original, functions as an art museum.
• 1898
  • Howard Library established.
  • Tennessee State Penitentiary rebuilt.
• 1900
  • Meharry Medical College active.
  • Population: 80,865.
  • Polk Place demolished.

20th century

1900s-1940s

• 1904 – Carnegie Library opens.
• 1905 – Centennial Club (women's group) active.
• 1906
  • Tennessee State Fair begins.
  • Nashville Globe newspaper begins publication.
• 1907 – Nashville Tennessean newspaper in publication.
• 1909
  • Sparkman Street Bridge opens.
  • Cumberland College closes.
• 1910
  • Nashville Art Association chartered
  • Hermitage Hotel in business
  • Advance Publishing Company incorporated
  • Population: 110,364
• 1912 - Urban League branch established.
• 1916 – Nashville Housewives League organized.
• 1918
  • July 9: Great Train Wreck of 1918.
  • 1918 influenza epidemic.
• 1920 – Population: 118,342.
• 1922 - Nashville's first radio station, WDAA, signs on
• 1925
  • War Memorial Auditorium dedicated.
  • WSM radio and its Grand Ole Opry begin broadcasting.
  • Belcourt Theatre built.
• 1926 - WLAC radio begins broadcasting.
• 1927
  • Warner Parks open.
  • WSIX radio begins broadcasting.
• 1930
  • First American National Bank formed.
  • Population: 153,866.
• 1931
  • Nashville Children's Theatre established.
  • Parthenon rebuilt.
• 1936 – Berry Field (airport) dedicated.
• 1937 – Tennessee State Museum established.
• 1940 - Population: 167,402.
• 1941
  • W47NV radio licensed.
  • Iroquois Steeplechase begins.
• 1942 – Acuff-Rose Music and Harveys (department store) in business.
• 1946 – Nashville Symphony founded.

1950s-1990s

• 1950
  • WSM-TV begins broadcasting.
  • Population: 174,307.
• 1951
  • Ben West becomes mayor.
  • The Harpeth Hall School opens.
• 1952 - Tennessee Theatre opens.
• 1953 – WSIX-TV begins broadcasting.
• 1954 – WLAC-TV begins broadcasting.
• 1955 - Brothers Owen and Harold Bradley establish Bradley Film and Recording Studio, the first studio in what will become Nashville's Music Row neighborhood.
• 1957
  • Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway stops operating.
  • Life & Casualty Tower built.
  • RCA Studios begins operation at the corner of 17th Ave. S. and Hawkins St. It will become known as RCA Studio B.
• 1960
  • Nashville sit-ins for civil rights occur.
  • Cheekwood Museum opens.
  • Population: 170,874.
• 1961 – Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum established.
• 1962
  • WDCN-TV begins broadcasting.
  • Nashville Municipal Auditorium opens.
• 1963
  • City consolidates its government with Davidson County.
  • Metropolitan Council (Nashville) established.
  • Beverly Briley becomes mayor.
• 1964 - American Association for State and Local History headquartered in Nashville.
• 1967 – 100 Oaks Mall in business near city.
• 1968 – Third National Bank Building constructed.
• 1970 - Population: 448,003.
• 1972
  • Fan Fair music festival begins.
  • Opryland USA opens.
• 1974
  • Regions Center (Nashville) built.
  • Grand Ole Opry House opens.
• 1975 – Richard Fulton becomes mayor.
• 1978 - The Nashville Sounds minor-league baseball team plays its inaugural season.
• 1980
  • Tennessee Performing Arts Center opens.
  • Sri Ganesha Temple established.
  • Population: 455,651.
• 1981 – Nashville Opera Guild chartered.
• 1982 - Foreign trade zone established.
  • Bluebird Cafe opens
• 1983 - Nissan car manufactory begins operating in nearby Smyrna.
• 1985 – Starwood Amphitheatre opens.
• 1986 – Tennessee Players founded.
• 1987
  • Nashville Airport terminal built.
  • Bill Boner becomes mayor.
• 1988 – Nashville Shakespeare Festival and Nashville Pride begin.
• 1989
  • Nashville Scene begins publication.
  • Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in business (approximate date).
• 1990
  • Grassmere Wildlife Park established.
  • Population: 488,374.
• 1991 – Phil Bredesen becomes mayor.
• 1994
  • City website online.
  • South Central Bell Building constructed.
  • American Airlines begins nonstop service between London and Nashville.
• 1996
  • Bicentennial Mall State Park opens.
  • Magdalene program for women, and Nashville Zoo at Grassmere established.
  • Nashville Arena built.
• 1998
  • April 15–16: Tornado.
  • After playing in Memphis for one season, the Tennessee OIlers football team plays its first Nashville games at Vanderbilt Stadium.
  • Nashville Predators ice hockey team formed.
• 1999
  • Adelphia Coliseum opens.
  • Bill Purcell becomes mayor.
  • Al Gore presidential campaign, 2000 headquartered in city.
• 2000 – The City Paper begins publication.

21st century

• 2001
  • Tennessee Immigrant Rights Coalition headquartered in city.
  • Frist Center for the Visual Arts established.
• 2002 Nashville Public Education Foundation established by Nelson C. Andrews and Thomas J. Sherrard
• 2003 – Shelby Street pedestrian bridge opens.
• 2006
  • Schermerhorn Symphony Center opens.
  • Viridian Tower built.
  • Car manufacturer Nissan's North American headquarters in business in nearby Franklin.
• 2007 – Karl Dean becomes mayor.
• 2008 – Nashville for All of Us (group) organized.
• 2009
  • Third Man Records in business.
  • The Pinnacle at Symphony Place built.
  • Live on the Green begins.
  • Voters reject Nashville English Only Amendment.
• 2010
  • April–May: Flood.
  • Population: 601,222.
• 2011
  • October: Occupy Nashville begins.
  • Parnassus Books in business.
• 2012
  • March: Occupy Vanderbilt begins.
  • MyCity Academy (government program) established.
  • Fictional Nashville TV series makes national premiere on ABC, transfers to CMT in 2016 after being canceled by the former and due to fan efforts
• 2013 – Music City Center opens.
• 2015
  • Construction begins on 505 skyscraper.
  • Megan Barry becomes mayor.
• 2020
  • Tornado outbreak of March 2-3, 2020: 22 people killed in tornadoes in Tennessee and Kentucky; the Nashville EF-3 tornado, which kills 4, north of downtown, somewhat mirrors the 1998 tornado's path
  • The Nashville bombing occurs, injuring eight people and causing major damage
• 2023 – The Covenant School shooting occurs, killing six people and the perpetrator.
• Freddie O'Connell becomes mayor.

See also

• History of Nashville, Tennessee
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Davidson County, Tennessee
• List of mayors of Nashville, Tennessee
• List of companies based in Nashville
• Nashville sister city timelines: Caen, Magdeburg
• Timelines of other cities in Tennessee: Chattanooga, Clarksville, Knoxville, Memphis, Murfreesboro
• Nashville Market House