Shows and Attractions Found on Our Tours

The White House, Mount Vernon, Monticello, and The Hermitage are the four most-visited presidential residences. Since 1889, when it was made into a museum to honor the seventh President of the United States, and the antebellum south, over 15 million people have visited The Hermitage. When Jackson purchased the cotton farm in 1804, it consisted of 425 acres, but while serving in the War of 1812, General Jackson's Hermitage continued to grow. By 1820 The Hermitage encompassed 1,000 acres and the plantation was operated with a work force of 44 slaves. After winning the popular vote for President in 1824, but failing to procure enough electoral votes, Senator Jackson lost the office to John Quincy Adams as was dictated by the House of Representatives. Feeling the sting of Washington corruption, Jackson resigned his senate seat and began planning his campaign for the 1828 election. The Presidential election campaign of 1828 is still considered one of the most brutal in United States history. Andrew Jackson and his supporters formed a grassroots party named the Democratic-Republicans, now known as the Democratic Party (Jackson was its first President). Unfortunately, Mrs. Jackson, Rachel Donelson Jackson died before Andrew Jackson was inaugurated; she is buried in a limestone and copper domed tomb in the gardens at The Hermitage, where President Jackson was laid to rest 16 years later. The original plantation house at The Hermitage was a two-story Federal-style mansion, which President Jackson expanded while serving his first term in the White House. In 1834, during Jackson's second term as President, a chimney fire destroyed most of the original plantation house. After the fire, President Jackson commissioned the Greek Revival structure which still stands today, and was completed near the end of his second term. Jackson's popularity with the "common man" was so great that over 10,000 people attended his funeral at The Hermitage in 1845. Years later, during the Civil War, Union troops formed a line to guard The Hermitage from the damages of war and protect Jackson's furnishings and mementos. On your visit to The Hermitage you can get a glimpse of the antebellum south, learn about plantation life in the 19th century, and absorb the history of Andrew Jackson, the only President of the United States to also serve as Governor (Florida), U. S. Representative, and U. S. Senator, as well as the only president in American History to pay off the national debt.