Nashville is the capital of Tennessee, named after Revolutionary War officer Francis Nash.
The settlement was founded in 1779 as Fort Nashborough by James Robertson and John Donelson. It was named for Francis Nash, a North Carolina brigadier general who died at the Battle of Germantown in 1777.
The community later became Nashville and was selected as Tennessee’s permanent capital in 1843. Its position on the Cumberland River helped make it an important commercial and transportation center.
Nashville is widely known as Music City because of its major role in country music and the recording industry. It is sometimes confused with Memphis, Tennessee’s largest city, but Nashville is the state capital and the seat of state government.