Andrew Johnson National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in Greeneville, Tennessee, maintained by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

. It was established to honor Andrew Johnson, the 17th

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief 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. 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 Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, 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 the United States, a national monument is a protected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government by proclamation of the President of the United States or an act of Congress. National monuments prot ...

in 1935, established on April 27, 1942, and redesignated a National Historic Site on December 11, 1963.

Today

Today the site totals sixteen 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.NRHP form pg.2 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. 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. 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 The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

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 -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

.NRHP form pg.24,31

References

External links

National Park Service: Andrew Johnson National Historic SiteAndrew Johnson Historic Site
- article from Tennessee History for Kids
"Life Portrait of Andrew Johnson"
from C-SPAN's '' American Presidents: Life Portraits'', broadcast from the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, July 9, 1999
Andrew Johnson Bicentennial, 1808-2008.
Tennessee State Library and Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Andrew National Historic Site Andrew Johnson Historic house museums in Tennessee National Historic Sites in Tennessee Presidential homes in the United States Military monuments and memorials in the United States Museums in Greene County, Tennessee Biographical museums in Tennessee Presidential museums in Tennessee Protected areas of Greene County, Tennessee Greeneville, Tennessee National Park Service areas in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Greene County, Tennessee Protected areas established in 1942 1942 establishments in Tennessee

Today

See also

References

External links