10 Things You Might Not Know About Nolensville

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1. A Broken Wagon Wheel

Without a broken wagon wheel, Nolensville might not exist.

The town is named after William Nolen, who with is wife Sarah were passing through Tennessee in 1797. A broken wagon wheel forced them to stop in what is now Nolensville.

By the time he fixed the wheel, the rich soil and good hunting changed Nolen’s mind about moving on to other parts.

William and Sarah built the first settler’s home, a log cabin that is now part of the Newt McCord home; his peach orchard was where the town’s business district now sits.

Nolen, born in Alermarle, Virginia in 1760, spent the American Revolution in North Carolina before heading west.

He and Sarah had 16 children between 1790 and 1818.

William and Sarah Nolen

Local lore has it that Nolen made his kids wear cowbells around their necks to protect them from Indian attacks and keep them away from a nearby cave.

By 1819, others began buying lots in the surrounding area.

By 1838 the Nolensville Plan of Incorporation passed the state Senate and the settlement officially became a town.

Nolen lived to 90, dying in 1850, far from where he began but at home.