Andrew Johnson National Historic Site

Infobox_nrhp | name =Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
nrhp_type = hd


caption =
location= Greeneville, Tennessee
lat_degrees = 36
lat_minutes = 9
lat_seconds = 30
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 82
long_minutes = 50
long_seconds = 6
long_direction = W
locmapin = Tennessee
area =
built =1830
architect= War Department
architecture= Colonial Revival
added = October 15, 1966
governing_body = National Park Service
refnum=66000073cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

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, 17th President of the United States, who became president after Abraham Lincoln's death. The site includes two of Johnson's homes, his tailor shop, and his grave site within the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery.

The cemetery also includes the interments of Johnson's wife, Eliza McCardle Johnson, and son Brigadier General 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 designated a U.S. National Monument in 1935 and redesignated a National Historic Site on December 11, 1963.

History

Andrew Johnson first arrived in Greeneville, Tennessee, in 1826. In 1830 Johnson acquired a building at the corner of College and Depot Street, and established his tailor shop there. It quickly became the center where the working class of Greeneville, Tennessee, gathered to discuss current events and politics. [National Park Service. [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/66000073.pdf Andrew Johnson NHS NRHP Nomination form] , pg.2] [ [http://www.nps.gov/anjo/historyculture/timeline.htm Andrew Johnson National Historic Site - Andrew Johnson Timeline (U.S. National Park Service) ] ]

In 1831 Johnson and his family moved into a house located across the street from his tailor shop. His family lived in the domicile until 1851. The two-story brick building had four rooms in total. [NRHP form pg.9] Ownership of the tailor shop remained with the heirs of Johnson until 1921, when the state of Tennessee purchased it. [ [http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=J017 Tn Encyclopedia: Andrew Johnson National Historic Site ] ]

The National Park Service gained control of the property in 1942. At time of acquisition, five structures were included: the Homestead, Tailor Shop, the headquarters of the National Cemetery's supervisor, the marble monument by President Johnson and his wife's grave, and the concrete wall around the National Cemetery.NRHP form pg.2]

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 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. [ [http://www.nps.gov/anjo/historyculture/visitor-tally.htm Andrew Johnson National Historic Site - Visitor Impeachment Vote Tally (U.S. National Park Service) ] ]

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. [NRHP form pg.2,3] [ [http://www.nps.gov/anjo/ Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) ] ]

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. [NRHP form pg.37] [ [http://www.nps.gov/anjo/planyourvisit/index.htm Andrew Johnson National Historic Site - Plan Your Visit (U.S. National Park Service) ] ]

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 convert|28|ft|m|sing=on-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. [NRHP form pg.24,31]

References

External links

* [http://www.nps.gov/anjo/ National Park Service: Andrew Johnson National Historic Site]
* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/Presidents/site56.htm A secondary NPS site on the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site]