Historic Nolensville School

Our mission is to promote knowledge and awareness of the historical heritage of Nolensville and the surrounding areas, and to promote the preservation and restoration of historic sites in and around the Nolensville community.

We invite you to visit our Museum and learn about the Town of Nolensville. William Nolen and his first wife Delilah Cantrell Nolen settled in 1797 on Mill Creek after the Revolutionary War, claiming a new life in territory that was then new to non-Native Americans. After 20 years, Delilah’s passing, and the arrival of more settlers claiming surrounding land grants, William and his second wife Sarah Cantrell Nolen, with the youngest of their 16 children (in which you can learn more about), realized the need to establish a Town. Selling approximately 22 lots of property near his home, Nolen gained funds for his large family and created a foundation for the community and what is now Nolensville’s Historic District.

Our Historic School Museum, listed on both the Tennessee and National Registers of Historic Places, is on the Northern outskirts of Nolensville’s Historic District. Classes began in this Rosenwald Design school in 1937 with funds raised to buy the property by members of the community and the Parent Teachers Association. The school’s first class consisted of 78 students sitting on orange crates under a large tent while construction was being completed. The school closed in 1972, but the building continued to serve as a recreation center until 2009 when the Nolensville Historical Society, in cooperation with the Williamson County government, took over the restoration.

The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012 in recognition of its educational and social significance and is now the headquarters of the Nolensville Historical Society, a living museum, and community events center. Our living museum showcases an experience through time, featuring the stories and culture of Nolensville’s people through the ages and into the present. This museum was made possible and built by our wonderful donors and volunteers in the same spirit of Nolensville’s original founders.