The county seat of Davidson County and the capital of the state of Tennessee is the city of Nashville. After Memphis, Nashville is the most populated city in the state. Nashville includes seven small municipalities in their government system and is also known as the hub for a number of industries including banking, music, publishing, healthcare and transportation.
Nashville was named after the American war hero Francis Nash and was a leading railroad centre. Owing to its strategic location as a river port, Nashville carried on growing in its economic strength till the Civil War. However, the city soon reclaimed its economic position and continued to grow to be a shipping and trading area together with setting up a strong manufacturing base. It also carried on growing its established publishing industry and encouraged the development of fine arts. Soon, Nashville was nicknamed the Music City.
Along with its rich culture and economic standing, Nashville has additionally remained in news reports for its sports scene. Nashville is home to a number of professional sports teams; a few of the prominent ones being the Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans. The Nashville Predators are definitely the areas professional ice hockey team and are a part of the Central Division of the Western Conference in the National Hockey League. They were formed in 1962 and were then referred to as the Dixie Flyers. All of the home games which they play are at the Sommet Centre that was formerly called the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
Their professional football team goes by the name of the Tennessee Titans. They belong to the South Division with the American Football Conference in the National playing in 1960. These were moved from Houston to Tennessee in 1997. They were then known as the Tennessee Oilers but modified their name to Tennessee Titans in 1999. The home field for the Tennessee Titans is the LP field.
Nashville also has a minor league baseball team which is known as the Nashville Sounds. They’re an element of the Pacific Coast League and play all of their home games at the Herschel Greer Stadium. This stadium was inaugurated in 1978 and can host almost 10,000 baseball fans. This team has been acknowledged as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams. This league has gone through to winning several titles such as the PCL Championships in 2005, the Southern League title and also the Double A of the Cincinnati Reds and the Double A in the New York Yankees.
Earlier known as the Nashville Broncs, the Music City Starts is Nashvilles basketball team which is an expansion team in the American Basketball Association. This team began playing in the 2008-09 season and played their home games within the Nashville Municipal Auditorium but will be shifting to the Allen Arena for their games in the 2009-10 seasons. The Nashville Broncs officially changed their name to the Music City Stars during 2009 in keeping with Nashvilles strong connection to the music industry.
Nashville also encourages college sports and gives its support for the teams from Vanderbilt University, Belmont University and the Tennessee State University.
