Nashville History Corner

Kalb Hollow was named for workers coming to Nashville from nearby county

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

In the 1930s and later, there were so many young ladies from DeKalb County who came to Nashville after graduating from high school to work at Werthan Bag Company that people called the housing project across Eighth Ave. North from Werthan Bag Company “Kalb Hollow.”

DeKalb County was established in December 1837 by the Tennessee General Assembly and named for Johann DeKalb, a German general who fought for the Americans in the Revolutionary War. He died at the Battle of Camden, South Carolina, on Aug. 16, 1780.

DeKalb County, whose county seat is Smithville, is an agricultural county 70 miles east of Nashville. Its population in 2020 was 20,087.