Smyrna, Tennessee

Smyrna, Tennessee grew from a small railroad town platted in eighteen fifty-five into one of the fastest-growing cities in the American South. For most of the twentieth century it was known mainly for Sewart Air Force Base, which opened during World War Two and closed in nineteen seventy. The base closure nearly devastated the local economy, but Smyrna's fortunes changed dramatically in nineteen eighty-three when Nissan chose the site for its first American assembly plant.

The Smyrna Nissan plant became one of the most productive auto factories in North America, employing thousands and anchoring a manufacturing boom that turned Rutherford County into one of Tennessee's economic engines. Today Smyrna is a bedroom community of Nashville with a population above fifty-three thousand, its auto-industry roots still driving the local economy.