Settled north of Nashville in 1782, Inglewood began as a farming community on the Cumberland River. Early prominent citizens built many grand homes in the area, including Weakley and Riverwood, which are still standing today. A new community called "Inglewood Place" began in 1908 and churches, schools, and businesses soon followed. Nearly 700 homes were built prior to 1940, but Inglewood saw its heyday following World War II as Nashville's first modern suburb. Inglewood's Isaac Litton High School was known throughout Middle Tennessee for its academic excellence, championship sports, and its renowned band, "The Marching 100." Today people are moving back to Inglewood because of its history and beauty still reflected in the majestic Cumberland River, the numerous natural springs, and varied architecture.

Nashville's Jewish community traces its beginning to 1795 with the birth of Sarah Myers, the first Jewish child born here. Her parents, Benjamin and Hannah Hays Myers, were both from prominent pre-Revolutionary War families in New England and stayed in Nashville just one year before moving to Virginia. The next few settlers--Simon Pollock, a doctor, in 1843; the Frankland family in 1845; Andrew Smolniker and Dr. H. Fischel, a dentist, in 1848; and E. J. Lyons in 1849--stayed only a few years before moving on to Memphis, New Orleans, or elsewhere. The first to stay and achieve prominence was Isaac Gershon (later changed to Garritsen), who in 1849 opened his home on South Summer Street for High Holy Day services and in 1851 formed the Hebrew Benevolent Burial Association, purchasing land that still serves as Nashville's Jewish cemetery. The first Jewish congregation, Mogen David, followed in 1854. The Jewish population of Nashville, which began with five families and eight young men in 1852, today numbers about 7,500.

“The story of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant is the story of towering artistic achievement wrapped in a love story so deep and so complete that the two are their own country song. Bobbie and Bill Malone are precisely the right match to tell this tale of love and genius.”—Ken Burns, Director, Country Music You might not know the names of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, but you know their music. Arriving in Nashville in 1950, the songwriting duo became the first full-time independent songwriters in that musical city. In the course of their long careers, they created classic hits that pushed the boundaries of country music into the realms of pop and rock. Songs like “Bye Bye Love,” “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” “Love Hurts,” and “Rocky Top” inspired young musicians everywhere. Here, for the first time, is a complete biography of Nashville’s power songwriting couple. In Nashville’s Songwriting Sweethearts, authors Bobbie Malone and Bill C. Malone recount how Boudleaux and Felice, married in 1945, began their partnership as itinerant musicians living in a trailer home and writing their first songs together. In Nashville the couple had to deal with racism, classism, and in Felice’s case, sexism. Yet through hard work and business acumen—and a dose of good luck—they overcame these obstacles and rose to national prominence. By the late 1990s, the Bryants had written as many as 6,000 songs and had sold more than 350 million copies worldwide. They were inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972, and in 1991 they became members of the Country Music Hall of Fame—a rare occurrence for songwriters who were not also performers. In 1982 their composition “Rocky Top” was adopted as one of the official state songs of Tennessee. The Bryants were lucky enough to arrive in the right place at the right time. Their emergence in the early fifties coincided with the rise of Nashville as Music City, USA. And their prolific collaboration with the Everly Brothers, beginning in 1957, sparked a fusion between country and pop music that endures to this day.

Nashville's 150-year public transportation heritage is a rich and colorful one that began in 1866 when two private companies, the McGavock and Mount Vernon Horse Railroad Company and the South Nashville Street Railroad Company, commenced operation. The first cars were mule powered. During the 1880s, as streetcar routes became longer and too strenuous for animal power, steam dummy lines were introduced. On April 30, 1889, Nashville became one of the earliest cities served by electric street railways, developing a 70-mile system by 1915. In addition to its advanced streetcar system, Nashville was also served by two interurban railway systems. Over time, improved roads and affordable cars caused ridership on public transportation to drop rapidly. By February 1941, buses had replaced the last of the city's aging streetcars. The traction era had come to an end.