With the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad linking the two cities in 1850, more people began to build houses and claim land south of Nashville. The railroad added a way station in the community called Stewartsboro, which was incorporated in 1869 as Smyrna after the nearby Smyrna Presbyterian Church. The town's location along the railroad placed it in the path of both armies during the Civil War, and skirmishes were fought throughout the town. Confederate...