Map of Davidson County, Tennessee

Davidson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in the heart of Middle Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 715,884, making it the second most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Nashville, the state capital and largest city.

Since 1963, the city of Nashville and Davidson County have had a consolidated government called the “Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County”, commonly referred to as “Metro Nashville” or “Metro”.

Davidson County has the largest population in the 13-county Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin Metropolitan Statistical Area, the state’s most populous metropolitan area. Nashville has always been one of the region’s centers of commerce, industry, transportation, and culture, but it did not become the capital of Tennessee until 1827 and did not gain permanent capital status until 1843.

Davidson County overview:
Name:	Davidson County
FIPS code:	47-037
State:	Tennessee
Founded:	October 6, 1783
Named for:	William Lee Davidson
Seat:	Nashville
Largest city:	Nashville
Total Area:	526 sq mi (1,360 km²)
Land Area:	504 sq mi (1,310 km²)
Total Population:	715,884
Population Density:	1,400/sq mi (530/km²)
Time zone:	UTC−6 (Central)
Summer Time Zone (DST):	UTC−5 (CDT)
Website:	www.nashville.gov

Davidson County location map. Where is Davidson County?

Davidson County location on the U.S. Map. Where is Davidson County. — Location of Davidson County in the the United States.

Davidson County location on the Tennessee map. Where is Davidson County. — Location of Davidson County in Tennessee.

History

Davidson County is the oldest county in the 41-county region of Middle Tennessee. It dates to 1783, shortly after the end of the American Revolution, when the North Carolina legislature created the county and named it in honor of William Lee Davidson, a North Carolina general who was killed opposing the crossing of the Catawba River by General Cornwallis’s British forces on February 1, 1781. The county seat, Nashville, is the oldest permanent European settlement in Middle Tennessee, founded by James Robertson and John Donelson during the winter of 1779–80 and the waning days of the Revolutionary War.

The first white settlers established the Cumberland Compact to establish a basic rule of law and to protect their land titles. Through much of the early 1780s, the settlers also faced a hostile response from the Native American tribes, such as the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), and Shawnee who while not living in the area used is as a hunting ground and resented the newcomers moving into there and competing for its resources. As the county’s many known archaeological sites attest, Native American cultures had occupied areas of Davidson County for thousands of years. The first white Americans to enter the area were fur traders. Long hunters came next, having heard about a large salt lick, known as French Lick, where they hunted game and traded with the Native Americans.

In 1765, Timothy Demonbreun, a hunter, trapper, and former Governor of Illinois under the French, and his wife lived in a small cave (now known as Demonbreun’s Cave) on the south side of the Cumberland River near present-day downtown Nashville. They were the parents of the first white child to be born in Middle Tennessee. A number of the settlers came from Kentucky and the Upper South. Since the land was fertile, they cultivated hemp and tobacco, using the labor of enslaved African Americans, and also raised blooded livestock of high quality, including horses. Generally holding less land than the plantations of Western Tennessee, many Middle Tennessee planters nevertheless became wealthy during this period.

Davidson County was much larger when it was created in 1783. However, four more counties were carved out of Davidson County’s territory between 1786 and 1856.

Sumner County created in 1786
Williamson County, created in 1799
Rutherford County, created in 1803 (also included parts of Wilson County)
Cheatham County, created in 1856 (also included parts of Dickson, Montgomery and Robertson counties)

Following the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the voters of Davidson County voted narrowly in favor of seceding from the United States: 5,635 in favor, 5,572 against. However, the Union Army occupied the county in February 1862, which caused widespread social disruption as the state’s governing institutions broke down.

Davidson County Road Map

Davidson CountyStreet Map. — Street map of Davidson County, Tennessee. Source: OpenStreetMap (OSM)

Davidson CountyMap — Davidson Countypolitical map.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 526 square miles (1,360 km), of which 504 square miles (1,310 km) is land and 22 square miles (57 km) (4.2%) is water.

The Cumberland River flows from east to west through the middle of the county. Two dams within the county are Old Hickory Lock and Dam and J. Percy Priest Dam, operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Important tributaries of the Cumberland in Davidson County include Whites Creek, Manskers Creek, Stones River, Mill Creek, and the Harpeth River.