The Hermitage (Nashville, Tennessee) facts for kids

The Hermitage
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Front of the mansion in 2007
Location	4580 Rachel's Ln Hermitage, TN 37076
Area	1,120 acres (450 ha)
Built	1835 (current form)
Architect	Joseph Reiff and William C. Hume
Architectural style	Greek Revival
NRHP reference No.	66000722
Quick facts for kids Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHL	December 19, 1960

The Hermitage is a famous historical place in Davidson County, Tennessee. It's about 10 miles (16 km) east of downtown Nashville. This large property, over 1,000 acres (400 ha), belonged to Andrew Jackson. He was the seventh president of the United States. Jackson owned The Hermitage from 1804 until he passed away there in 1845. It is also where he is buried. He lived at the property on and off until he stopped working in public life in 1837.

Many enslaved people lived and worked at The Hermitage. When Jackson bought the land in 1804, nine enslaved people lived there. By the time he died, there were 110. They mainly grew cotton, which was the farm's main crop. Today, The Hermitage is a special place called a National Historic Landmark.

Exploring The Hermitage: Home and Gardens

The Mansion's Design

Side view of the house

Rear of the mansion in 2022

The Hermitage house is in a quiet meadow. Rachel Jackson, Andrew Jackson's wife, chose this spot. From 1804 to 1821, the Jacksons lived in a log cabin. This first home included structures called the West, East, and Southeast cabins.

Jackson later asked for a fancier house to be built. The first main house was a two-story building. It was built in the Federal style using bricks made right on the property. This construction happened between 1819 and 1821. The house had four rooms on each floor, and every room had a fireplace. Large hallways went from the front to the back. This created a cool breeze in warm weather. A simple porch was added later.

In 1831, while Jackson was living in the White House, he had the mansion updated. Architect David Morrison oversaw the changes. New parts included one-story wings on the sides. A large front porch with 10 columns was also added. This gave the house a more classic look.

A fire in 1834 badly damaged the house. Only the dining room wing was saved. Because of this, Jackson had the current 13-room house built. It was designed in the Greek Revival style. It was built on the same foundation as the old house. The new house was finished two years later. Joseph Reiff and William C. Hume were the architects. They also built Tulip Grove across the road.

The mansion is shaped like a rectangle. It is about 104 feet (32 m) wide and 54 feet (16 m) deep. The main entrance is on the south side. It has a central part with two stories and five window sections. A large porch with six special wooden columns supports the roof. There's also a balcony on the second floor. One-story wings extend from the sides of the house. They reach past the front porch. This makes the porch look enclosed on three sides. The front of the house looks like it has a flat roof. But the other sides show that the roof is actually sloped and covered with tin. The front was painted a light tan. Sand was added to the columns to make them look like stone. A similar porch is on the north side of the house. It has different columns and a triangular roof part.

Inside the Mansion

The main part of the house has four large rooms. A central hallway separates them. The entry hall has dark painted floors. Its wallpaper shows scenes from a story called "Telemachus' visit to the island of Calypso." At the end of the hall is a curved staircase. It has a fancy mahogany handrail. To the left of the hall are the front and back living rooms. They have crystal chandeliers and marble fireplaces. The dining room is in the east wing, off the front living room.

The dining room is painted with shiny paint to make it bright. The fireplace has a special mantelpiece called the "Eighth of January." A soldier from the Battle of New Orleans carved it. He worked on it every year on the battle's anniversary. He finished it on January 8, 1839. Jackson put it in place a year later. Next to the dining room is a pantry and storage room. This leads to an open path to the kitchen. The kitchen was built separately from the main house. This helped prevent fires. It also kept cooking noise, heat, and smells away from the main living areas. To the right of the entrance hall are two bedrooms. President Jackson and his son, Andrew Jackson, Jr., used these rooms. A big library and office are in the west wing. Jackson used this area to manage the estate.

Upstairs, on the second floor, there are four bedrooms. Family members and guests used these rooms. Famous visitors included Sam Houston and Presidents James K. Polk and Martin Van Buren.

The Hermitage Grounds

Alfred's Cabin

Bath house

The West Cabin

Today, The Hermitage covers 1,120 acres (450 ha). This includes the original 1,050 acres (420 ha) of Jackson's land. The Andrew Jackson Foundation manages and cares for it. A 10 feet (3.0 m) wide, guitar-shaped driveway leads to the mansion. It is lined with cedar trees. Ralph E. W. Earl designed this driveway. Its shape made it easier for carriages to turn around. To the east of the house is a 1 acre (0.40 ha) formal garden. William Frost, a gardener from Philadelphia, designed it in 1819. It is laid out in an English style. It has four sections and a round center flower bed. These are surrounded by long, special bricks and pebbled paths. The garden was first used to grow food for the house. It was also a beautiful pleasure garden. A white picket fence surrounds it. A brick privy stands on the north side. It was a sign of wealth and part of the garden's design.

After Rachel Jackson passed away in 1828, Jackson buried her in the garden she loved. When he remodeled the house in 1831, Jackson also built a classic-style "temple & monument" for Rachel's grave. Workers finished the domed limestone tomb with a copper roof in 1832.

Behind the mansion, there is a smokehouse from the early 1800s. The large brick smokehouse was built in 1831. It could cure 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) of pork each year. Nearby is a cabin known as Uncle Alfred's Cabin. Alfred Jackson was born enslaved at The Hermitage around 1812. He worked there in different jobs. After the Civil War, he stayed as a tenant farmer. Later, he became a caretaker and guide. This was after the Ladies' Hermitage Association bought the estate in 1889. Alfred Jackson died in 1901. He was buried near President and Mrs. Jackson's tomb.

Two other cabins were built using parts from the First Hermitage. After Jackson built the main house, the two-story log cabin he lived in was taken apart. Its materials were used to build two one-story buildings. These were used as workers' homes.

From 1988 to 2005, teams did a lot of archaeological digging at the site. They found where an ice house was behind the smokehouse. They also found hundreds of thousands of old items. A brick building with three units, likely used by workers and skilled craftspeople, was found near the mansion yard. Archaeologists have found 13 homes used by workers. Evidence suggests there were at least two log houses and four brick duplexes. The cotton gin and cotton press (used for baling) were in one of the cotton fields. This was just beyond the First Hermitage area.

The Hermitage's Story

The land Jackson called Hermitage was 2 miles (3.2 km) from the Cumberland and Stones Rivers. Native Americans had been moved out of this area. Robert Hays first settled this land in 1780. Hays sold his 420 acres (170 ha) farm to Jackson in 1804. Jackson bought more land later, making the plantation 640 acres (260 ha).

A Cotton Plantation

Jackson and his wife moved into an existing two-story log blockhouse. It was built to protect against attacks. A small addition was built on the back of the cabin. Other log buildings were put up behind it. These included cabins for enslaved people, storage rooms, and a smokehouse. This group of buildings is known as the First Hermitage.

Jackson started his cotton farm with nine enslaved African people. He continued to buy more workers. By 1820, he owned 44 enslaved people. This made him a major planter and slaveholder in middle Tennessee. Most farmers in the area owned no enslaved people or fewer than 10. Owning 20 or more meant you were a major planter. Some cabins for enslaved house servants and skilled workers were near the main house. Most of the enslaved laborers lived closer to the fields. This area was called the Field Quarter.

Between 1818 and 1819, Jackson built a brick house. This replaced the log structure he had lived in for 15 years. He also added six brick buildings. These contained 13 living units, each about 20 by 20 feet (6 by 6 m). These were for enslaved workers. One was a three-unit building called the Triplex. It was built behind the mansion. A two-unit building called the South Cabin was built at the First Hermitage. Four brick duplexes were built at the Field Quarter. These were known as Cabins 1, 2, 3, and 4. At least one Field Cabin was still standing in the 1920s.

Jackson was elected President in 1828. He made The Hermitage larger during his first term. After a fire in 1834 destroyed much of the house's inside, he rebuilt and refurnished it. At the end of his second term in 1837, Jackson retired to The Hermitage. He passed away there in 1845. Andrew Jackson was buried in the garden next to his wife.

Throughout his life, Jackson expanded the estate to 1,000 acres (400 ha). About 200 acres (81 ha) were used for cotton, the main crop. The rest was used for growing food and raising racehorses. By 1840, over 100 enslaved men, women, and children lived on the estate. This made The Hermitage one of the largest estates in the region. Only 24 Tennessee estates in the 1850 census had more than 100 enslaved people. At its busiest, Jackson held 161 enslaved people in total. 110 were at The Hermitage. 51 were at Halcyon plantation in Coahoma County, Mississippi.

Jackson's adopted son, Andrew Jackson, Jr., inherited the estate. Jackson's will also gave his son all enslaved people. Only two boys (given to his grandchildren) and four women (given to Andrew Jr.'s wife, Sarah) were exceptions. Because of debt and bad investments, Jackson Jr. started selling parts of the estate. In 1856, he sold the remaining 500 acres (200 ha), the mansion, and other buildings to the State of Tennessee. The agreement allowed the Jackson family to stay there. They would be caretakers of the estate. The state planned to give the property to the federal government. It was to be a southern branch of the United States Military Academy. But the American Civil War started in 1861, stopping this plan.

Civil War and Beyond

The tomb of Andrew and Rachel Jackson is located in The Hermitage garden.

On May 5, 1863, soldiers from the Union Army from Indiana came to The Hermitage. A soldier named Pvt. Joseph C. Taylor wrote about it in his diary. He described the beautiful gravel road leading to the house. It was lined with cedar trees that met overhead. He also described the garden. It was full of plants and flowers. He noted the tomb of General Andrew Jackson in the garden's southeast corner. He wrote that Jackson was buried on the south side of the tomb. His wife was on the north side. Two infant children were on the south side of the tomb. He described it as a "dark and secluded spot."

The Hermitage as a Museum

Museum displays in 2022

The Hermitage, 1998 tornado damage

Andrew Jackson's grandson, Andrew Jackson III, and his family were the last to live at The Hermitage. The family moved out in 1893. It stopped being a family home. The Ladies' Hermitage Association opened The Hermitage to the public. The state of Tennessee had given them the property. It was to be a museum about Jackson's life and the antebellum South. The Association restored the mansion to look as it did in 1837. Over time, the group bought back all the land that had been sold. In 2003, they owned the last piece of land. This restored the estate's original size.

The Hermitage was lucky during the 1998 Nashville tornado outbreak. An F-3 tornado hit the property on April 16, 1998. It missed the house and grave site. But it knocked down 1,000 trees on the estate. Many of these trees were said to have been planted by Jackson himself almost 200 years earlier. The trees used to hide the house from people on U.S. Route 70. Their loss left the mansion clearly visible.

Using wood from the fallen trees, Gibson Guitar Corporation made 200 special "Old Hickory" guitars. The first guitar was given to the Smithsonian museum. As of 2018, it was not on display.

The mansion is the most accurately kept early presidential home in the country. Each year, over 250,000 people visit the home. This makes it the fourth-most-visited presidential home in the U.S. (after the White House, Mount Vernon, and Monticello). The property was named a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

Based on archaeological digs and other research, The Hermitage created an exhibit about enslaved life in 2005. It is in the Visitor Center. It focuses much more on the lives of enslaved African American families on the plantation. This includes house staff and field workers.

Confederate Soldiers Home Cemetery

Veterans at the Confederate Soldiers Home, circa 1908

Part of The Hermitage estate became a state-funded home for Confederate soldiers. This facility housed poor and disabled Confederate veterans starting in 1892. More than 480 veterans who died there were buried in a cemetery on the site. Each grave has a white, military-style gravestone. They are arranged in circles around a large stone monument.

Enslaved Memorial

Participants in a memorial ceremony to the people enslaved at The Hermitage lay flowers in remembrance of each upon the stones of the Monument to the Enslaved

In 2006, the remains of 61 enslaved people were found near The Hermitage. They had been the legal property of Rachel Jackson's nephews. Their graves were not marked. But they were arranged in family groups. Their ages were estimated to be from 1 to 45 years old. The Ladies' Hermitage Association took care of their reburial. They were placed in a new common grave at The Hermitage site. A memorial was built on top of their reburial site in 2009. It remembers the enslaved people of the area. The design is called "Our Peace: Follow the Drinking Gourd—A Monument to the Enslaved." It was proposed by Aaron Lee Benson. It includes an unmarked stone wall over the burial site. Seven trees are arranged in the shape of the Little Dipper. Both the constellation and "follow the drinking gourd" refer to using the North Star to escape from slavery.

Legacy of The Hermitage

The city in Davidson County where The Hermitage is located is named Hermitage, Tennessee. A hotel called the Hermitage Hotel opened in downtown Nashville in 1910. It is still open today. Many famous people and U.S. presidents have stayed there.

The Hermitage in Popular Culture

• The Hermitage is shown in the beginning of F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon (1941). The narrator, Celia, visits it with two other characters.
• The Hermitage was one of the places where the 1955 Disney film Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier was filmed.

U.S. Postage stamps depicting The Hermitage

2 cent, 1937 issue

4 1/2-cent, 1959 issue