Andrew Johnson National Historic Site

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Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
Andrew-johnson-house-tn1.jpg
One of Andrew Johnson's homes
USA Tennessee location map.svg
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Usa edcp location map.svg
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Location Greeneville, Tennessee
Coordinates 36°9′30″N82°50′6″W / 36.15833°N 82.83500°W / 36.15833; -82.83500
Built1830
ArchitectWar Department
Architectural styleColonial Revival
Visitation51,189 (2019) [1]
Website Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
NRHP reference No. 66000073 [2]
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966
One of Andrew Johnson's homes in Greeneville, Tennessee AndyJohnson's Home.jpg
One of Andrew Johnson's homes in Greeneville, Tennessee

Andrew Johnson National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in Greeneville, Tennessee, maintained by the National Park Service. It was established to honor Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, who became president after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The site includes two of Johnson's homes, his tailor shop, and his grave site within the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery.

Contents

The cemetery also includes the interments of Johnson's wife, Eliza McCardle Johnson, and son Colonel Robert Johnson. David T. Patterson, a United States Senator from Tennessee, and his son Andrew J. Patterson, who was instrumental in securing historic designation for the Greeneville properties associated with Andrew Johnson, were among others buried in the cemetery. The site was authorized by Congress as a U.S. National Monument in 1935, established on April 27, 1942, and redesignated a National Historic Site on December 11, 1963. [3]

Today

Today, the site totals 16 acres in area, and has three separate units. These units are the Andrew Johnson Visitor Complex, the Andrew Johnson Homestead, and the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery. Visitors receive a copy of the admission ticket to Johnson's impeachment hearings; every year on May 26, visitors vote on whether or not Johnson should have been removed from office. [4] [5]

The Andrew Johnson Visitor Complex consists of the visitor center, the museum, and Andrew Johnson's tailor shop. The visitor center shows a 13.5 minute film about Johnson and his time in Greeneville. The one-story/one room tailor shop remains much as it was in Andrew Johnson's day. It is surrounded by a memorial building built by the state of Tennessee in 1923 to prevent wear and tear upon the tailor shop. [6] [7] For kids, they can become Junior Rangers by completing a small activity book.

Andrew Johnson's first Greeneville home is located across the Street from the visitor complex.

Statue of United States President Andrew Johnson at the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Andrew-johnson-statue-greeneville1.jpg
Statue of United States President Andrew Johnson at the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site

The Andrew Johnson Homestead is maintained to look as it did when Andrew Johnson and his wife lived in the domicile from 1869 to 1875. Johnson had purchased the home in 1851. During the war years, the house was occupied by soldiers. It required renovations when the family returned to the house after Johnson's leaving the presidency in 1869. It is a Greek Revival two-story brick house. [8] [9]

The Andrew Johnson National Cemetery was established in 1906. Andrew Johnson owned 23 acres outside Greeneville on Signal Hill. Upon his death in 1875, Johnson was buried on the property. On June 5, 1878, the city erected a 28-foot (8.5 m)-tall marble statue in his honor by Johnson's grave. The monument was considered so dominant that the hill's name was changed to "Monument Hill". Johnson's daughter Martha Johnson Patterson, who inherited the property, willed on September 2, 1898, that the land become a park. She further pushed in 1900 to make the site a national cemetery, so that instead of the Johnson family's maintaining it, the federal government would. The United States Congress chose to make the site a National Cemetery in 1906, and by 1908 the United States War Department took control of it. On May 23, 1942, control of the cemetery was shifted to the National Park Service. [10]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Johnson National Cemetery</span> Reconstruction-era historic cemetery

The Andrew Johnson National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery on the grounds of the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site in Greeneville, Tennessee. Established in 1906, the cemetery was built around the resting place of Andrew Johnson, the 17th President of the United States, and holds more than 2,000 graves.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolly Johnson</span> Formerly enslaved Tennesseean (1820s–1890s)

Dolly Johnson, in later life known as Aunt Dolly, was a small-business owner and domestic worker. She was posthumously described as "one of the finest cooks that ever lived in Greeneville, Tennessee". Andrew Johnson, who became the 17th president of the United States in 1865, enslaved Dolly from 1843 until 1863. The paternity of Dolly Johnson's children, Elizabeth Johnson Forby, Florence Johnson Smith, and William Andrew Johnson, remains an open question in the study of the history of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Andrew Johnson</span> Formerly enslaved American pastry chef (1858–1943)

William Andrew Johnson was a lifelong Tennessean who was primarily employed as a restaurant cook. He was described as a "quiet, bright-eyed" man, a "great favorite" in Knoxville, and he was "regarded by many as the best pastry chef in East Tennessee." William Andrew Johnson was believed to be the last surviving American to have been enslaved by a U.S. president. Johnson, his two sisters, his mother Dolly and his Uncle Sam were all once legally the property of Andrew Johnson, who became the 17th President of the United States following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. In later years, when describing his lifelong relationships with Johnson's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, Johnson said "They treat me just like I was one of the family."

Emily Wright Harold was a 19th-century American wife and mother who lived most of her life in Greeneville, Tennessee. In 1872, Harold was accused of engaging in an extramarital affair with her neighbor and former U.S. President Andrew Johnson. She subsequently committed suicide by self-inflicted gunshot wound. Johnson was a candidate for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives that year and reports of the alleged sexual relationship, Mrs. Harold's suicide, and an ensuing libel trial, made national headlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Johnson Stover</span> American political hostess (1832–1883)

Mary Johnson Stover was a daughter of 17th U.S. President Andrew Johnson and his wife Eliza McCardle. Stover and her three children lived at the White House during the Johnson administration, as Stover's husband, a soldier in the Union Army, had died during the American Civil War and their East Tennessee homestead had been pillaged by Confederates. Stover assisted her older sister Martha Patterson as an acting First Lady of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Johnson (Tennessee)</span> Son of 17th U.S. President Andrew Johnson

Charles Johnson was the first-born son of 17th U.S. President Andrew Johnson and his wife Eliza McCardle Johnson. He died at age 33 near Nashville, during the American Civil War, while his father was serving as military governor of Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Johnson Smith</span> American housemaid and cook (~1850–1920)

Florence Johnson Smith was a mixed-race Tennessean who was enslaved from birth until approximately age 13 by Andrew Johnson, later the 17th president of the United States. She worked at the White House as a housemaid during Johnson's presidency and in his home as a cook after he left office. Her mother was Dolly Johnson; the identity of her father remains officially unknown. Since the late 20th century several scholars and popular historians have speculated or insinuated that Andrew Johnson may be Florence's biological father, although there is no evidence that either confirms the relationship or eliminates Johnson as a candidate for paternity. In later life Florence Smith may have been a woman of some financial means as she was remembered at the time of her death as a benefactress who financially supported local African-American students pursuing college educations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Johnson Jr.</span> Son of U.S. President (1852–1879)

Frank Johnson, formally Andrew Johnson Jr. and sometimes Andy Johnson Jr., was the fifth and last child born to Eliza McCardle Johnson and her husband Andrew Johnson, who served as the 17th U.S. president from 1865 to 1869.

References

  1. "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  3. Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Administrative History, National Park Service, 2008, pp. 121-122
  4. NRHP form pg.2
  5. "Visitor Impeachment Vote Tally - Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.
  6. NRHP form pg.2,3
  7. "Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.
  8. NRHP form pg.37
  9. "Plan Your Visit - Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.
  10. NRHP form pg.24,31