Antioch, Tennessee facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Antioch
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 Antioch
Location in Tennessee
Antioch
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Tennessee |
| County | Davidson |
| Metropolitan government | Nashville |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 97,372 |
| ZIP Code |
37013
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Antioch is a neighborhood in Nashville, located about 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Downtown Nashville. It is part of the government of Nashville and Davidson County.
Contents
History of Antioch
Antioch started as a small community where several roads met. The first church in the area was built near Mill Creek in 1810. At first, Antioch was a "commuter town." This meant people lived there but traveled to and from downtown Nashville for work.
From the very beginning, Antioch had important services like a post office and a general store. The area was sometimes called Antioch–Priest Lake because it was close to J. Percy Priest Lake.
How Antioch Got Its Name
In 1810, the first Baptist church was formed near Mill Creek. Ten years later, in 1820, a man named Charles Hays gave land for the church. He started calling it the "Church at Antioch." This name came from a Bible verse in Acts 11:26, which says "... and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." From then on, the village was known as Antioch. For a short time in the 1870s and 1880s, the post office was called Oneyville, but it soon changed back to Antioch.
As the town grew, it covered an area of one to two miles in every direction. The mail route for Antioch also reached other nearby communities like Una, Mt. View, Cane Ridge, Tusculum, and Bakertown.
Growth and Transportation
Much of the land in Antioch was owned by Charles Hays for many years. By the late 1840s, a new road called Mill Creek Valley Pike (now Antioch Pike) was built and opened in 1846. A railroad was also built, which greatly changed the community.
The railroad was very important for delivering mail and for people who worked in Nashville. Before the train, getting to Downtown Nashville was hard. It involved riding a horse and then a trolley, which could take half a day. The first train made it much faster for workers to travel. About 18 passengers used the train to go to and from Nashville every workday.
Over the years, four trains stopped in Antioch, going both north and south. The first train station was southwest of where Una-Antioch Pike is today. Later, in 1891, the station moved closer to Blue Hole Road and Antioch Pike. As cars became more popular, fewer people used the train, but it continued to deliver mail.
Antioch's Local Businesses
Even as train use went down, Antioch continued to grow through its local businesses. By the 1880s, the village had a train station, a church, a store, a blacksmith shop, and some homes. In the 1930s, an auto repair shop and a pub replaced the blacksmith shop. Music teachers taught lessons from a home on Antioch Pike. There was also a two-story grocery store where the owner, Mr. Harris, lived upstairs. The post office remained a key part of the community, often located inside local grocery stores.
Modern Growth
Over time, as Antioch grew into a suburban area, it became harder to know exactly where it began and ended. Antioch was never officially made into a city, so its boundaries were mostly defined by its postal address. Even this was confusing because the mail route covered a large area. A 1993 magazine article said the Antioch post office served 14 rural routes and 11 urban routes. Despite this confusion, many people moved to the area, and it grew a lot in the following years.
In the 1970s, Antioch grew very quickly. This was mainly because the Nashville sewer system expanded to the area. Also, there was a lot of old farmland available, which made it easy to build many apartment complexes. Today, Antioch continues to be one of the fastest-growing areas in Nashville and Davidson County.
Antioch's Economy
The main business area in Antioch is around the Commons at the Crossings. This used to be called Hickory Hollow Mall, which opened in 1978. As Hickory Hollow Mall, it was a large shopping center with over 140 stores and lots of parking.
New Developments
In 2014, a company bought a large amount of land, including the old Target store site. They planned to turn it into a "mixed-use space," which means it would have different types of buildings like shops, offices, and homes. New stores like Conn's HomePlus and Floor & Decor opened in the old Target spot. In 2017, work began to redevelop the old Shoney's property into a medical office and retail building. This area is seen as an important entrance to the large Century Farms development. There are also plans to improve the I-24 exit for Hickory Hollow Parkway to connect to a new road called Cane Ridge Parkway.
Antioch is becoming Nashville's second-largest job center. Many companies are building offices and creating jobs there. For example, Community Health Systems is building a center that will employ over 2,000 people. Other companies like Asurion, HCA Data Center, and LKQ Corp. are also expanding in Antioch. LKQ Corp. plans to invest $25 million to build a large regional office building.
Community Hubs
The old Hickory Hollow Mall has been updated and is now called the Commons at the Crossings. A new library and a recreation center are now located in the former JCPenney part of the mall. Nashville State Community College opened a campus in the old Dillard's building, and it now has over 3,000 students. This college works with Middle Tennessee State University to offer programs where students can earn degrees.
The Nashville Predators, a professional hockey team, built their first regional ice hockey facility in Antioch. This place, called the Ford Ice Center, is home to Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton's Ice Skating Academy and hosts youth hockey games. It's one of the busiest ice rinks in North America. The center is also a practice rink for the NHL Predators and hosts college hockey teams from Vanderbilt, David Lipscomb, and MTSU.
Recently, Bridgestone North America moved its IT service center into the former Sears building at the redeveloped mall. The State of Tennessee also opened a full-service driver's license testing station in Antioch. There are also plans for a large 600-acre (243 ha) park near Cane Ridge High School, with greenway projects running along Mill Creek.
Starwood Amphitheatre, which was Nashville's main outdoor music venue, was in Antioch from 1986 to 2006. It has since been torn down, and there are plans for a new $100 million development on that site.
Antioch is also where the main office for the National Association of Free Will Baptists is located.
Media
Antioch gets its news and entertainment from Nashville's major media outlets. These include the daily newspaper, The Tennessean, and various radio and television stations.
Notable residents
- Casey Atwood (born 1980), a racing car driver
- Coty Clarke (born 1992), a basketball player
- Brandon Miller, an NBA player
- Dave Ramsey (born 1960), a personal finance expert and radio host
- Jelly Roll, a country artist and rapper
- Yelawolf, a rapper who spent much of his childhood in Antioch
