Cheatham County kicks off 170th birthday celebration with cookie contest, yearlong events

Cheatham County officially marked its 170th birthday Feb. 28 with a cookie contest and community celebration at the Cheatham County Museum in Ashland City, drawing more than 130 attendees and launching a slate of events planned throughout 2025.

Organizers said 133 people signed in for the birthday event, which featured a judged cookie contest.

Winners included the Sycamore High School Culinary Arts class for "Taste of Cheatham" with their tea cakes. The students also won "Best Tasting" with their chess cake bar cookies. Sandy Noe's pecan cookies won the "Prettiest Presentation" award and Lennon Meachum won CCHGA President’s Student Choice for her Lively Lad Cookies.

The celebration also highlighted a yearlong schedule of free programs and special events made possible through grants from the state of Tennessee and the Tennessee State Museum.

“We’re excited to be able to offer free events this year because of the grants we received from the state of Tennessee and the Tennessee State Museum,” organizers said. “We’re very grateful to the state for those opportunities.”

Among the grant-funded events is a June 26 patriotic concert by the Cumberland Winds, a concert band headquartered in Clarksville that performs throughout the Cumberland River region. The concert, to be held at Gateway Church in Ashland City, will feature American music spanning from the nation’s founding to modern day.

Museum volunteers described the ensemble as a professional-grade group composed largely of current and retired music educators.

Other 170th anniversary events will take place at the museum and include expanded guest speaker programs, genealogy workshops and historical commemorations.

In April, the museum will host Wednesday genealogy sessions open to the public, offering research assistance to residents interested in tracing family histories. Volunteers said the museum regularly maintains family files and archival materials to assist researchers.

One upcoming highlight is a visit from the Timothy Demonbreun Heritage Society, a national organization honoring one of Nashville’s earliest settlers. Descendants and members will spend a day at the museum before traveling to a local cemetery to place a monument at the grave of John Baptist Demonbreun, who settled in what became Cheatham County.

Additional guest speakers are scheduled throughout the year, including presentations on historic flags of the United States — including the 31-star flag that was in use when Cheatham County was formed in 1856 — and other county history topics.

In September, the museum will host a traveling exhibit from the Tennessee State Museum focused on Tennessee’s three grand divisions. The panel-style exhibit will be on display for the full month.

Organizers said they plan to continue adding events, potentially including programming in Kingston Springs and Pegram to ensure countywide participation.

The celebration will conclude in early December with a closing ceremony and the creation of a community time capsule. Rather than burying a traditional capsule, organizers are considering a digital version that would allow residents to submit scanned letters, photographs and artifacts documenting 2025 in Cheatham County. A physical component may also be included.

Throughout the year, a videographer will document anniversary events and conduct interviews with residents for a year-end documentary about the county’s 170th year.

Museum leaders said the goal of the free programming is to encourage new visitors and build community engagement.

“We really want to have these kinds of free events to garner goodwill and bring people in that maybe normally wouldn’t have come,” one organizer said. “This way they come and say, ‘This really is a good museum.’”

A full calendar of anniversary events is available on the Cheatham County Historical and Genealogical Association's website, with updates expected as additional programs are finalized.