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Nashville, Tennessee, is definitely country music and all that goes with it—cowboy hats and red leather boots, songs about heartbreak and crying over beer. Bumper stickers reading "Eat More Rhinestones" and "Viva Nashvegas" reflect the shiny, glitzy surface of Music City. But Nashville's repertoire is wider than many visitors assume.

Nashville business is flourishing in a variety of industries, including publishing, health care, automobiles, finance and professional sports. The city also does a booming business in conventions and trade shows, and it's hosting more and more people who would just as soon attend a performance of the Nashville Opera as the Grand Ole Opry.

New residents from around the world have brought to Nashville a diversity of cultures that has changed the social fabric for the better—especially when it's time to go out to eat. The result is a city that not only lives up to its reputation but also surpasses it.

Must See or Do

Sights—The Parthenon at Centennial Park; the Ryman Auditorium, original home of the Grand Ole Opry; a performance at the current location, the Grand Ole Opry House; the Opryland Hotel; the historic Belle Meade Mansion; and The Hermitage.

Museums—Musical memorabilia at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum; antebellum and Civil War artifacts at the Tennessee State Museum; Carl Van Vechten Gallery; Frist Center for the Visual Arts; Cheekwood's gallery and sculpture park.

Memorable Meals—The Pancake Pantry's famous golden cakes; biscuits and fried chicken at Loveless Cafe; global cuisine at Bound'ry; exquisite Mediterranean fare at Zola; striking decor and plates at Radius 10; spicy wings at Prince's Hot Chicken Shack or 400 Degrees.

Late Night—Lower Broadway honky-tonks, including Tootsie's Orchid Lounge; drinks on the patio at The Trace or Radius 10; songwriters' night at the Bluebird Cafe; late-night munchies at the Hermitage Cafe.

Walks—Bicentennial Mall and the Farmers Market; strolling and bird-watching along lovely Radnor Lake; meandering among the grounds and gardens at the Parthenon in Centennial Park; a hike through Percy Warner or adjoining Edwin Warner Park.

Especially for Kids—Exploring the Adventure Tower at Adventure Science Center; making pictures at ArtQuest at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts; the Critter Encounters exhibit at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere; Dragon Park (Lily's Garden) Playground next to Hillsboro Village and Vanderbilt; ice skating at Centennial Sportsplex.

Geography

Nashville's layout is relatively simple. Downtown sits on the west bank of the Cumberland River and is a major sightseeing and entertainment area. The core of downtown is "The District" for tourists, but every local just calls it "downtown" or "Lower Broad." This is the historic area that contains many shops, restaurants and bars. It spreads west from the river for about six blocks and encompasses a block or two on either side of Broadway, a major east-west thoroughfare. North of The District, but still in downtown, are the state Capitol and Bicentennial Mall State Park, and "The Gulch" is bordered on the Broadway side by the Frist Center for the Visual Arts at 10th Street. Numbered avenues begin just west of the river and increase as you head west.

Broadway continues west out of downtown and eventually runs into West End Avenue. These streets intersect near Music Row and 17th Street, a short distance away from downtown. The neighborhood between West End Avenue and Interstate 440 is known as West End. It's home to specialty shops, upscale eateries and Vanderbilt University. A more distant area that's of interest to visitors is Music Valley, home of the Opryland Hotel and the Grand Ole Opry. It's northeast of downtown, off Briley Parkway (Highway 155). About 7 mi/12 km southwest of downtown is Green Hills, a shopping and dining enclave centered around the Mall at Green Hills. Across the river is East Nashville, the city's revitalized historic area, with dozens of shops, bars and restaurants.

History

Like much of the southeastern U.S., the area around Nashville was inhabited by Mississippian tribes some 1,000 years ago. Stone tools, pottery shards and burial mounds have been unearthed around what is now the Tennessee Bicentennial Mall. The region was a prime hunting ground for later Native Americans, including the Cherokee, the Chickasaw and the Shawnee. Fort Nashborough, the first permanent European settlement in the area, was built on the banks of the Cumberland River in 1779 (a replica of the original fort stands at the foot of Broadway). Tennessee became the 16th state of the Union in 1796, and the town—renamed Nashville—was later chosen as its capital.

During the War of 1812, many of the city's residents left for New Orleans to fight, helping Tennessee earn the nickname "The Volunteer State." The soldiers fought under Gen. Andrew Jackson, who went on to become a U.S. president.

Initially held by the Confederates during the Civil War, Nashville was occupied by Federal troops in 1862 and remained in Union hands for the rest of the war. Several brutal battles were fought in the rolling hills of middle Tennessee in late 1864, however, including the Battle of Nashville, a decisive Union victory. Reconstruction brought recovery, progress and growth to the city. Several colleges based in the city became prominent in this period, including Fisk University, an influential school attended primarily by African Americans, and Vanderbilt University. Today, the city is home to some 16 colleges and universities.

Promoting its educational facilities and cultural refinement, the city championed itself as the "Athens of the South." To drive the point home, it built a full-scale replica of the Parthenon for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition in 1897. Then came country music—much to the horror of some of the city's high-minded promoters. The main reason Nashville became the home of country was radio station WSM, which began broadcasting the hugely popular Grand Ole Opry in 1925. In time, record labels and recording studios established themselves there, and Nashville had a new nickname: "Music City."

In the early 1960s, the Nashville sit-ins were among the first nonviolent protests for civil rights in the country. Around the same time, Nashville and Davidson County merged their operations to form a more unified and effective local government. Since then, the city has added communications- and computer-related businesses to its portfolio and has experienced significant growth. It continues to be a top choice for corporate relocations and expansions.

The city's visibility increased further in the mid-1990s, when Nashville became home to two professional sports teams, the Tennessee Titans NFL football team and the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators. In 2001, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts opened, strengthening the city's cultural offerings.

Today, music continues to be the city's most visible industry, and one that reaches beyond country to embrace all types of music. Nashville's diverse economy also remains on an even keel as the city continues to grow, attracting visitors and new residents alike.

Potpourri

Some argue that Davy Crockett, famous for his fiddling and buck dancing, became the area's first star when he moved to Middle Tennessee in 1811.

Talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, actress Reese Witherspoon, Desperate Housewives star James Denton and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore all grew up in Nashville.

One of the most visible buildings downtown, BellSouth Tower, is called 'Batman' because the two towers look like the caped crusader's ears.

Nashville's music industry these days is worth more than US$6 billion, but its health-care companies generate more than US$62 billion annually.

In 2006, Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine put Nashville at No. 1 on its "50 smartest places to live" list.

Nashville is rumored to have more churches per capita than any city in the U.S. and has the headquarters of the largest Christian book publisher, plus the headquarters of the United Methodists and the Southern Baptists.