The Hermitage
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The Hermitage is a historical plantation and museum located in Davidson County, Tennessee, USA, 12 miles east of downtown Nashville. The plantation was owned by Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States, from 1804 until his death at The Hermitage in 1845. Jackson only lived at the property occasionally until he retired from public life in 1837.
[edit] History
The original Hermitage mansion, a two-story brick building in the Federal style, was built between 1819 and 1821. The structure was remodeled in 1831 and a Palladian facade was added. In 1834, fire seriously damaged much of the building. The current Greek Revival structure was completed in 1836.
In 1889, the Hermitage was opened to the public as a museum, both of Jackson's life and the antebellum South in general. Each year, the home receives more than a quarter million visitors, making it the 4th most visited presidential residence in the country (after the White House, Mount Vernon, and Monticello).
The tomb of Andrew and Rachel Jackson is located in the Hermitage garden.
The Hermitage escaped a near-disaster during the Nashville Tornado of 1998. An F-3 tornado crossed the property at approximately 4:00pm CDT on April 16, 1998, missing the house and gravesite, but toppling many trees that had reportedly been planted by Jackson himself nearly 200 years earlier. Whereas the trees had once hidden the house from view of passers-by on U.S. Highway 70, it is now in plain sight.
The area of Davidson County, Tennessee surrounding the Hermitage is known as Hermitage, Tennessee.
[edit] External links
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