With the home of Elvis Presley in Graceland and the home of country music in Nashville, the 16th state of Tennessee, admitted in 1796 also claims to be the home of the Volunteers of the War of 1812 made famous at the Battle of New Orleans, giving the state its name as the Volunteer State.

The state is also home to the Blue Ridge Mountain, and don’t forget about blue grass, and a north to south section of the Great Smoky Mountains and the Tennessee Valley, which played a major role in the Civil War. As a border state, Tennessee left the union in 1861, one of the last states to secede. It was also the first state readmitted to the union in 1866 and due to its ratification of the 14th amendment. It was also the 36th and last state to ratify the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote.

During the Revolutionary War, the Cherokee Indians were not thrilled with the progress of the colonists, sided with the British, and led by Dragging Canoe, attacked Fort Watauga in 1776, who was opposed to the Transylvania Purchase. This fort later served as a staging area for the Overmountain Men who headed east to lead the emigration of Indians to the west. Over 17,000 Cherokees were rooted from their homes and marched to staging areas west of Arkansas with about 4,000 dying along what became known as the Trail of tears.

Many major battles of the Civil War were fought in Tennessee with most won by the Union Army with General Ulysses Grant and U.S. Navy capturing ports on the Tennessee River and the Cumberland River.

During World War II Oak Ridge was selected as the United States Department of Energy’s national laboratory, home of the Manhattan Project and the state celebrated it bicentennial in 1996 with a yearlong celebration.

Visitors to Nashville, the state capital, saw construction of the Grand Ole Opry in 1925, earning its nickname of Music City USA and is also home to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Gaylord Entertainment Center as well as Dollywood Amusement Park named for entertainer Dolly Parton. When the Houston Oilers National Football League team moved, the Tennessee Titans made the former Adelphia Colliseum, now LP Field their home.

Built along the Mississippi River, Memphis is the largest city in Tennessee and having Elvis Presley’s Graceland on the outskirts of town draws millions of dedicated fans every year. The music heritage of Memphis is well documented, including a stint as a disk jockey on radio station WDIA which gave B.B. King his nickname. As a young man he was known on the radio as the Beale Street Blues Boy referring to Beale Street’s location for blues and nightclubs. The name stuck as he became famously involved in music.