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Nashville (Tenn.)
Nashville originated as Fort Nashborough, named for Revolutionary War hero Francis Nash. It was constructed next to the pre-existing French trading post of French Lick, which was folded into the growing settlement. It was incorporated as a city in 1806, and became the county seat of Davidson County. It served as state capital 1812-1817, and became the capital again in 1826. It was named the permanent capital in 1843.
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Murfreesboro (Tenn.)
Designated as the seat of newly-formed Rutherford County, it was originally named Cannonsburgh for local politician, Newton Cannon. It was formally cahartered a few months later as Murfreesboro, in honor of Revolutionary War Colonel Hardy Murfree. As settlement moved west across Tennessee, the state capital moved to Murfreesboro from Knoxville in 1818. Eight years later the capital moved to Nashville.
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Memphis (Tenn.)
Founded by John Overton, James Winchester and Andrew Jackson on land purchased from the Chickasaw people, the city sits on high bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. It was named for the ancient city in Egypt, and incorporated 19 Dec 1826.
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Lebanon (Tenn.)
The city's name is a reference to the biblical cedars of ancient Lebanon, due to the large number of cedar trees in the area.
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Knoxville (Tenn.)
Originally settled by Revolutionary War officer James White, who built the first fort on the site, it was chosen as the territorial capital by the new governor William Blount. Blount renamed the settlement Knoxville, in honor of his direct superior, the Revolutionary War general Henry Knox.
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Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Originally a Cherokee settlement, the area was used as an internment camp for indigenous people during the Trail of Tears. It was incorporated as a US city in 1839, the year after the deportation of the Cherokee. The name is believed to be derived either from a Muskogean term for a dewlling rock or a Creek term for a rock rising to a point, both generally assumed to be references to Lookout Mountain, which overlooks the city.