History of Old Hickory, Tennessee

The area that Old Hickory occupies was originally farmland during the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1917, this site and adjacent land was purchased by the US Government for the construction of a gunpowder plant which was erected by the DuPont Company of Philadelphia. This plant was to produce smokeless gunpowder for the allied war effort during World War I. In March of 1918, ground was broken for the construction of the plant.

In addition to the plant itself, workers began construction of housing and governmental and recreational facilities to serve the community’s projected population of 35,000. Because of fear of sabotage, security considerations demanded that the community be as insular as possible. All needs of the workers regarding housing, shopping, eating facilities and recreation were to be supplied by DuPont.

To meet the demand for housing, DuPont officials constructed hundreds of homes, duplexes and apartments. West of Hadley Avenue, a "temporary village" was constructed which was composed of frame structures with an exterior sheathing of "rubberoid", an asbestos compound. These buildings were constructed only to provide temporary housing during the operation of the plant. They were later razed or moved, and none of these structures remain.

East of Hadley Avenue, the "permanent village" was constructed which consisted of more substantial frame one and two-story structures. They were designed to house the upper echelon and management of the plant.

Within the permanent village, ten distinct house types were built. These ranged from the very simple one-story vernacular homes to ornate three-story Colonial Revival homes for the managers. Influences of the Bungalow and Dutch Colonial styles are also found in the designs of the permanent village. These houses were constructed with the most modern of electrical, plumbing and kitchen facilities. Each house type was given a distinctive name including the Denver, Florence, Ketchum, Haskell, Bay Tree, Arlington, Davis, Cumberland, Georgia and Welford.

Many shared common elements such as large porches on the main facade, multi-light windows, exposed rafters and asbestos shingled exteriors. The layout of the permanent village followed a grid pattern with the exception of Riverside Road which followed the contours of the bluff overlooking the Cumberland River. On most blocks, houses were grouped twelve to a block and were oriented to the street.

By the end of December 1918, over 300 homes had been built in the permanent village and were occupied by workers of the plant. With the closing of the plant in 1919, all of the original residents moved away and the houses were left vacant for several years. In 1923, the DuPont Company returned to the site to erect a rayon plant. Houses in the village were rehabilitated with new paint, wallpaper and other repairs. When the houses were once again habitable, workers of the new DuPont plant were assigned homes in the village with DuPont responsible for their management and upkeep. From 1923 to 1946, the homes in the village continued to be owned and managed by the DuPont Company. DuPont had a large maintenance staff which would paint the homes every several years, make repairs where needed and even change the light bulbs. This arrangement ended in 1946 with the decision to sell the homes to the workers rather than continue the management of the village.

Today, the village remains as the only example of a planned company town in Middle Tennessee. There have been no major intrusions into the area and the streetscapes are much as they were back in 1918. Old Hickory is a unique historical and architectural resource of Tennessee.