"Wilson County is bounded on the north by Sumner County, on the northeast and east by the counties of Trousdale, Smith and DeKalb, southeast by Cannon County, south by Rutherford County, and west by Davidson County, and has an area of 578 square miles. The county was named in honor of Maj. David Wilson, a native of Pennsylvania, who settled in Sumner County when Tennessee was a part of North Carolina.

In the latter part of 1799 the boundary lines were run in accordance with the provisions of the above act, and the county was duly organized. But it was not until in 1802 that the county seat was located, when the present Site of Lebanon was selected on account of its almost central location, and of the existence on the land of a large, never-failing spring of pure water, and which spring at the present time is as pure, fresh and strong as at that early day. The land selected was owned by one James Menees, who donated the necessary land.

Wilson County was established by an act of the Third General Assembly of Tennessee, passed October 26, 1799, three years after the organization of the State.

By an act passed by the General Assembly November 6,1801,a portion of Wilson County was annexed to Smith County, and the present bounds of this were established by an act passed November l3, 1801, as follows: "Beginning on the south bank of Cumberland River at the mouth of the Drake Lick Creek, it being the upper corner of Davidson County, running from thence up said river with the middle of the channel of the same to the Smith County line; thence south twenty-three degrees east along the said Smith County line to the Indian boundary line; thence westwardly with said Indian boundary line to the Davidson County line; thence northwardly along said Davidson County line to the beginning." This act also provides for the appointment of Christopher Cooper, Alanson Trigg, Mathew Figures, John Harpole and John Doak, as a commission to organize the new county, run the boundary lines and locate the county seat, purchasing forty acres for the latter purpose; the said land to be selected with due regard for good wood and water; to lay off the county seat into town lots, sell the same at public auction, reserving sufficient ground for a public square, and with the proceeds of such sales defray the expenses of erecting a court house and jail, and other necessary building for the use of the county.

Mount Juliet is a station on the Tennessee & Pacific Railway, fourteen miles west from Lebanon, in the First District, and was established in 1870 upon the land of Newton Cloyd. Originally the town stood on the Lebanon & Nashville Road, on the land of John J. Crudoup, and was first established in 1885. The merchants of Mount Juliet are Grigg & Smith, general store, and Elly Fuqua is the blacksmith. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is the only one in the town, and Lodge No. 379, F. & A. M., the only secret society. Mount Juliet Academy, a chartered school, ranks among the best in the county.

The first school in Wilson County was established some time in 1800, by Benjamin Alexander, on the waters of Spring Creek. The school was taught in a log dwelling-house, from three to four months in the year, and, though humble and unpretentious, furnished the foundation for the present magnificent school system. Another school was taught by Rev. Samuel Donnell in the same neighborhood, in 1802, which was called a classical school, and was conducted in connection with the church of which Mr. Donnell was pastor. Following these schools several others were taught in the various creek neighborhoods, of which no record can be obtained, and in 1810 George McWhirter, a man of finished education, established what afterward became the celebrated Campbell Academy. This school was located on Hickory Ridge, about five miles west of Lebanon. Mr. McWhirter was assisted in the conduct of the school by his two daughters, and all the higher branches were taught. In the course of five or six years the school was removed to Lebanon and a good building erected on a piece of ground donated by Gov. Campbell, for whom the school was named. In 1840 a new building was erected for the academy, and it was continued as such until the late civil war, after which it was turned over to the Cumberland University, to be used as a preparatory department of that institution, and is in use at the present. Among the prominent teachers of this school were Rev. Thomas Anderson, Profs. S. C. Anderson, Myron Kilborn, W. R. Dougal, Lucien Marshall, Poindexter and Kennedy."
(http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnwilson/goodsp01.html)

West Elementary opened in 1959 serving as a 1st-8th grade school for African-American students located in the western end of Wilson County.

"Private parties filed suit against the Tenth School District of Wilson County,Tennessee (Lebanon City), in 1965 to enjoin the school system from operating a dual school system. At the time of the suit, the school system operated an elementary school system for white children and a separate educational facility for African American children. Children from all races, however, attended an integrated high school operated by the Wilson County School District. The plaintiffs’ petition prevailed, and in 1971 the court ordered the schools in the Tenth School District to integrate." (http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/TNDESEGFULL.pdf)

In 1969, West was desegregated and began serving students in grades five and six. In 1974, the front addition of West opened and began serving students in grades one through six.

Kindergarten was incorporated in January 1975.