Yesterday's Nashville

Never since the world began was there a better hunting ground than the canebrakes of Middle Tennessee in 1780, over whose fertile hills and valleys hundreds of thousands of buffaloes, deer, bears, and wild turkeys roamed at will. The early settlers of Nashville came with the knowledge that the beautiful area along the Cumberland River would support their families for years. With food in easy abundance, Nashvillians had by 1797 created a frontier atmosphere so refined that it amazed visitors with its Athenian Pathenon, which only added to the city's already distinguished architecture. It came to be known as the Athens of the South, and its political prestige as a city closely connected with three U.S. presidents from 1829 to 1869 only added to this reputation.