It dates to 1783, shortly after the end of the American Revolution, when the North Carolina legislature created the county and named it in honor of William Lee Davidson,[4] a North Carolina general who was killed opposing the crossing of the Catawba River by General Cornwallis's British forces on February 1, 1781.

The county seat, Nashville, is the oldest permanent European settlement in Middle Tennessee, founded by James Robertson and John Donelson during the winter of 1779–80 and the waning days of the Revolutionary War.

Through much of the early 1780s, the settlers also faced a hostile response from Native American tribes such as the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), and Shawnee who used the area as a hunting ground; they resented the newcomers moving into the area in violation of treaties and competing for its resources.

[1] In 1765, Timothy Demonbreun, a hunter, trapper, and former Governor of Illinois under the French, and his wife lived in a small cave (now known as Demonbreun's Cave) on the south side of the Cumberland River near present-day downtown Nashville.

Since the land was fertile, they cultivated hemp and tobacco, using the labor of enslaved African Americans, and also raised blooded livestock of high quality, including horses.

[9] However, the Union Army occupied the county in February 1862, which caused widespread social disruption as the state's governing institutions broke down.

Davidson County is a Democratic stronghold, due to it comprising the liberal bastion of Nashville.

However, Davidson County has trended even more Democratic in recent years while most of the state has shifted Republican.

The new map that was passed gerrymandered Davidson County into three congressional districts, resulting in Republicans winning them all in 2022.

These are: For U.S. Census purposes, the portions of Davidson County that lie outside the boundaries of the six independently incorporated municipalities are collectively treated as the Nashville-Davidson balance.

According to a history published in 1884, when the area was first colonized in the 1770s, "Bears, deer, buffaloes and other wild animals, now extinct in this part of the country, were plentiful, and furnished food for the settlers.

Wild cats, wolves and snakes were also numerous, and had their haunts where now stand stately mansions.

"[29] Davidson County is referred to in the Billboard Country Airplay number one hit of 2021,[30] Famous Friends, as it was written by native Chris Young along with Cary Barlowe and Corey Crowder.