OLD HICKORY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Fifteen miles northeast of downtown Nashville is the town that DuPont built.
In 1918 during World War I, the federal government contracted with DuPont to build a gunpowder plant.
“There were 30,000 employees reporting to work daily, and it is estimated that over 650,000 people were in and out of this area within that nine-month period,” Kris Brummett, official historian of the Old Hickory Area Chamber of Commerce, said.
DuPont built an entire village around the plant — with homes, schools, YMCAs, banks and a hospital.
“[It was an] astronomical feat of engineering to have so much going on in such a short amount of time. After speaking with several people, I’m not sure anything else like that’s ever been accomplished in the United States,” Brummett said.
After World War I ended, the gunpowder plant ceased operations and the area became a ghost town. The Nashville Industrial Corporation bought the complex and unsuccessfully tried to redevelop it. Three years later, DuPont came back and purchased most of the property and started manufacturing the fiber rayon in 1925. For two decades, the area was a company-owned town and DuPont ran operations there for 80 years.
“What that fostered was a tremendous family sense of community; everybody was watching out for everybody,” Brummett said.
That hasn’t changed in Old Hickory, which is why Celeste Malone bought her home there in 2023.
“Something just kept pulling me to the village — pulling me to the village,” Malone said. “When I found my home, I stepped in the front door and I was like, ‘Yeah, this is where I need to be.'”
It’s no surprise she felt pulled to the place where her family’s history runs deep. Her grandfather and great-uncle commuted from Gallatin to work at DuPont.
“That opportunity laid the foundation for my family going forward,” Malone said. “It’s grown our family. It’s made our family who we are. The Malones are some resilient, educated and really hard-working folks, and I’m just really grateful that my grandfather was able to do that, and my great uncles were able to do that come here.”
Malone is the president of the Old Hickory Village Neighborhood Association.
Although development hasn’t happened as quickly as some other Davidson County communities, Malone and Brummett are excited about new businesses and a community center being built in the center of town.
“This pocket of Nashville is really sweet and it’s really special,” Malone said. “We’re called the hidden Mayberry,” Brummett added.
The final DuPont employees left Old Hickory in 2021. The Magnera Corporation now operates at the site, manufacturing a multitude materials.
