Settlement in the area progressed slowly but steadily, though industry declined during the Civil War. Following the war, the village's prospects improved, industry and settlement picked up, and the town was officially incorporated as Nashville on 18 October 1883, with D.A. Hutchinson serving as the first mayor. Womack is attributed with first proposing the name and called the town after Nashville, Tennessee. The following year, Nashville and Hope were connected via railroad, spurring further growth, and the county seat was relocated from Center Point to Nashville. With the establishment of county government in the town, and due to the increased trade and access brought by the railroad, Nashville continued to grow. The town had a population of 928 in 1900, and boasted "a cotton-compress and gin" and a "bottling-works"; by 1920 the population had risen to 2,144.