The Reverend Hubbard Saunders established Saundersville United Methodist Church in 1798. This building was built in 1867, making it Hendersonville's oldest church building. The town that grew up around the church was named Saundersville. The 1870 census showed 23,711 inhabitants of the county with 1573 in Saundersville. Hendersonville was a village of only 30 people at that time.