ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Centered on Main Street in the county seat's charming downtown square, the Cheatham County Courthouse has stood strong for more than a century.

The original section, a 42-by-48-foot brick structure, was completed in 1869 on a three-acre site for a cost of $12,000. The first floor offices and the courtroom on the second floor are still in use today.

Former Cheatham County Chancery Court Clerk Doris Sanders said she worked in the building for 35 years, and even went to kindergarten in one of the upstairs rooms.

She said the building still has many of its original features, including its glass front doors, benches in the courtroom and handmade bricks. After surviving a proposal to be torn down in the 1960s, the courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

“Every time you turn around, they’re wanting to tear something down and rebuild it. And I don't understand this, because the buildings that were built back in those days were a lot stronger and a lot better than what we’ve got now," Sanders said.

Mary Grey Jenkins, the town's first female mayor and a founding member of the Cheatham County Historical and Genealogical Association, said the courthouse is the only part of Ashland City that has stayed in the same in her lifetime.

Much of the surrounding area has experienced significant change as the town's population has more than doubled to 5,000 people in the last 25 years, she said.

Jenkins explained Ashland City was established at the same time as Cheatham County in 1856, but was actually incorporated in 1859.

She served in the 1990s, helping the town establish new bridges, a four-lane highway and the Cumberland River Bicentennial Trail — an abandoned railway restored for bikers and walkers. The abundant catfish, scenic drives and 43,000 acres in the Cheatham Wildlife Management Area are some of her favorite features of the town.

Many of the buildings on Main Street have been repurposed over the years, apartments have popped up, a second fire station has been added and a new city hall just opened its doors.

Even with the growth, the town's development has stalled in some ways, Jenkins said. She pointed to their being more vehicles, easier access to Nashville and Clarksville, and more people moving in that aren't from the area as reasons for the changes.

Jenkins said they no longer have a skating rink or theater, and recalled a time the downtown area had department stores, grocery stores and a tree-lined main street.

“It was called Ashland at the time because there were ash trees all over town. I don't know of but one now, personally, and it's in my backyard," Jenkins said. “Some people say it was named for Henry Clay’s home in Kentucky, Ashland... but I like to think it was for the ash trees.”

Click here to learn more about the Cheatham County Historical and Genealogical Association.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/on-tour-middle-tn/cheatham-county-courthouse/