Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
Encyclopedia
National Historical Park
National Historic Sites are protected areas of national historic significance in the United States. A National Historic Site usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject...
in Greeneville, Tennessee
Greeneville, Tennessee
Greeneville is a town in Greene County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 15,198 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Greene County. The town was named in honor of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene. It is the only town with this spelling in the United States, although there...
, maintained by the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
. It was established to honor Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
, 17th President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, who became president after Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's death. The site includes two of Johnson's homes, his tailor shop, and his grave site within the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery
Andrew Johnson National Cemetery
The Andrew Johnson National Cemetery, administered by the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, is a United States national cemetery outside Greeneville, Tennessee, that was established in 1906. It features the grave of the seventeenth President of the United States Andrew Johnson.Andrew Johnson...
.
The cemetery also includes the interments of Johnson's wife, Eliza McCardle Johnson
Eliza McCardle Johnson
Eliza McCardle Johnson was the First Lady of the United States and the wife of Andrew Johnson, the 17th President of the United States.-Early Life and Marriage:...
, and son Brigadier General Robert Johnson. David T. Patterson
David T. Patterson
David Trotter Patterson was a United States Senator from Tennessee at the beginning of the Reconstruction Period....
, a United States Senator from Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, 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 designated a U.S. National Monument
U.S. National Monument
A National Monument in the United States is a protected area that is similar to a National Park except that the President of the United States can quickly declare an area of the United States to be a National Monument without the approval of Congress. National monuments receive less funding and...
in 1935 and redesignated a National Historic Site on December 11, 1963.
Today
Today the site totals sixteen total 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 CemeteryAndrew Johnson National Cemetery
The Andrew Johnson National Cemetery, administered by the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, is a United States national cemetery outside Greeneville, Tennessee, that was established in 1906. It features the grave of the seventeenth President of the United States Andrew Johnson.Andrew Johnson...
. 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.
The Andrew Johnson Visitor Complex consists of the visitor's 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.
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.
The Andrew Johnson National Cemetery was established in 1906. Andrew Johnson owned twenty-three 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 feet (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
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
.