Davidson County and the city of Nashville have a rich architectural, cultural, and historical heritage. Nashville, founded as Fort Nashborough in 1779-80, is older than the state of Tennessee and older than the U.S. Constitution. Established by the state of North Carolina in 1783, Davidson County initially included all of the land in the present-day state of Tennessee from the Cumberland Plateau west to the Mississippi River, forming the basis for some 70 counties today.

Long the domain and hunting ground of indigenous native peoples, the first white men to come to the area were French fur traders, establishing a trading post around 1717. The first permanent settlement was established on the banks of the Cumberland River on Christmas Day in 1779. That band of pioneers, led by James Robertson, cleared the land and built a log stockade. John Donelson and some 60 families followed in April 1780, to settle the new community that was then a part of North Carolina. The first settlers quickly spread over the land, living in small groups and building stations, or log forts for protection from the Indians.

With the cessation of Indian attacks and a developing sense of stability, the inhabitants were encouraged to build more permanent homes. The first brick houses, built at the end of the eighteenth century, were modeled after the kinds of houses they had known in Virginia and North and South Carolina. In 1784 the community's name was changed from Nashborough to Nashville.

Tennessee became the sixteenth state in 1796. Increasing population in the Middle Tennessee grand division resulted in Nashville's first becoming the state capital in 1812. However, the capital moved back to Knoxville in 1815. Knoxville's role as state capital ended in 1817 when a move was made to Murfreesboro. Nashville again became the capital in 1826, but it was not until a spirited legislative session in 1843 that its status became permanent. By that time Nashville was the home to one former president of the United States, Andrew Jackson, and home to future president James K. Polk (1845-49).

On July 4, 1845, the cornerstone for a new capitol building was laid. The General Assembly first met in the new building on October 3, 1853. However, the capitol building, designed by the noted architect William Strickland, was not actually completed until 1859. This masterpiece of Greek Revival architecture dominated the city's skyline until the mid-twentieth century, when downtown's first high-rise structures began to be constructed.

By 1860 Nashville was a prosperous river city. Because of its strategic location on the river and the railroad, the city was occupied by Federal troops in 1862. The Battle of Nashville, fought in 1864, was the last aggressive action of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.

In the decades following the war, Nashville once again experienced a growth in population, business and industry, and education. Another area of growth, country music, has grown to the point that Nashville today is known as Music City, USA.

The influence of Nashville's churches is evident throughout the city. Clergymen and church leaders led in the establishment of educational institutions such as Vanderbilt University, Belmont University, Trevecca, and David Lipscomb University among others. Religious publishing houses were important in Nashville's becoming a printing and publishing center. Also Fisk University, one of the first private institutions in the United States for the higher education of blacks, was established in 1866. Meharry Medical College, which has educated more black doctors than any other medical college in the world, was started in 1876.

Under its present Metropolitan Charter, which became effective April 1, 1963, Nashville and Davidson County have a single government (the first in the state) with its authority encompassing more than a half-million people and 533 square miles.