The town was named after Albert Gallatin,[8] Secretary of Treasury to Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

Once the fighting began, however, they gave almost unanimous support to the Confederacy and volunteered to serve in defense of their state.

Gallatin was strategic both because of the railroad, which ran east–west through the state, and its location on the Cumberland River, both of which the Union Army sought to control.

In July 1862, General John Hunt Morgan recaptured Gallatin and held it until October, when the Confederate forces fell back to Chattanooga.

Alice Williamson, a local 16-year-old girl, kept a diary during 1864 and described Paine's execution of alleged spies without trial, some in the public square.

[12] Even before the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, many enslaved African Americans freed themselves by leaving farms and plantations with their families to join the Union troops in Gallatin and other parts of the state.

[14] Men from Gallatin were among those from the 12th and 13th TN Infantry USCT who built a rail line through nearby Waverly and the earthen Fort Hill near that town for regional defense.

By the end of the war, widespread social and economic breakdown existed in the area, accompanied by a rise in crime.

[12] Through this period, many freedmen had moved from the farms into town, to gather in black communities away from white oversight.

Its continued reliance on agriculture slowed the economy, and planters and other employers struggled with the shift to a free labor system.

It moved west into Europe, and finally was carried by passengers on ships across the Atlantic Ocean, the third such pandemic to reach the United States.

The poor sanitation of the period resulted in contamination of water sources, a primary means of disease transmission.

Overall, Sumner County had an estimated 120 deaths that year from cholera, with four-fifths of them suffered by African Americans.

[18] In the United States, some 50,000 people died of cholera during this pandemic, including 4,000 in Saint Louis and 3,500 in New Orleans.

Today, it serves in part as a bedroom commuter suburb to the larger city and state capital of Nashville, some 30 miles to the southwest.

The city is located on Station Camp Creek, 3 mi (5 km) north of the Cumberland River, which was the chief route of transportation in the county's early years of settlement.

Totality of the eclipse, lasting 2 minutes, 38.7 seconds, occurred just before 1:30 PM local DST time (18:28:52.3 UTC) High temperatures average 49 °F (9 °C) during the winter, 69 °F (21 °C) in spring, 88 °F (31 °C) in summer, and 72 °F (22 °C) in fall.

[10] The top four major employers in Gallatin, in order, are GAP, Inc., Sumner Regional Medical Center, Volunteer State Community College, and RR Donnelley.

Gap employs 1,250 workers[25] The Tennessee Valley Authority operates a coal-fired power plant in Gallatin.

[citation needed] The yearly Candlelight Cemetery Tour is held annually on the first Saturday in October.

These services include collecting city property taxes, ensuring liquor store compliance, and issuing taxi-cab and beer permits.

There are also degree granting centers at McGavock High School in Nashville and Vol State at Livingston in Overton County.

It offers 40 majors with its top programs including theological studies, premed/nursing, business, teacher education and music.

Owned at one time by the record mogul Randy Wood, the station still serves Sumner County with country music, local sports and coverage of NASCAR racing.

During that time the station was owned by Ron Bledsoe, a former employee in his younger years, who commanded CBS Records in Nashville.

The student-run radio station, WVCP, broadcasts on 88.5 MHz FM, and plays music of various formats.

WeGo Public Transit provides a daily bus service from Gallatin to downtown Nashville, with stops along the way.

[33] The Regional Transportation Authority has future plans to expand the current WeGo Star commuter railway to include a line running between Gallatin and Nashville, with a stop in Hendersonville.

The staff can also perform digital mammography, interventional cardiology, neurosurgery, computerized knee replacement surgery, and PET therapy, among other procedures.

The department also inspects restaurants, hotels, campgrounds, day care centers, schools, and other public facilities where food is served, to ensure proper sanitation.