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Articles
A Walk With The President by Staff
Historic landmarks throughout this city connect its past with its present and future.
Although Greeneville is now thriving in the 21st century, reminders survive that Andrew Johnson, 17th president of the United States, called this area his home some 150 years ago. Visiting these historic places can make the past come alive.
“A Walk With The President” is a tour brochure provided for those interested in walking or driving on a self-guided tour that allows you to see the sites that were once very familiar to President Johnson. The latest edition is available at the Greene County Partnership, 115 Academy St., or at the Andrew Johnson Visitor Center, where College and East Depot streets meet in downtown Greeneville. “A Walk With The President” details the historic sites and provides a map for the tour.
Through an agreement between Main Street: Greeneville and the U.S. National Park Service, walking tours of historic points in downtown Greeneville are offered from April through October. Tours depart from the General Morgan Inn’s lobby at 9:30 a.m.
Call Main Street Tours at 787-0500 for more information.
The places indicated in all-capital letters below are the tour sites listed in “A Walk With The President” and are numbered on the map in the brochure. Other historical sites not officially included as part of the tour — such as some of Greeneville’s older private homes — also are occasionally mentioned, but not printed in all-capitals.
The Sites:
Preserved inside a sturdy brick structure, which also houses the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Visitors Center, is the ANDREW JOHNSON TAILOR SHOP. This location is where the “Walk With The President” begins.
Andrew Johnson's original tailor shop, located in the Visitor Center.
The sound of footsteps on the wooden floor, the noise of shears snipping cloth, and other sound effects are used to bring the tailor/president to life.
The Visitor Center.
The most current upgrade is a short DVD movie that provides visitors with an introduction to the site as well as to Johnson’s political and personal life.
Andrew Johnson's Early Home.
Included with the decor of the 1830s house are historical displays about Johnson’s life up until the time of his presidency.
Across Depot Street from the Visitor Center, a bronze statue of Andrew Johnson gazes solemnly at the world.
Jim Gray, a noted East Tennessee artist and sculptor, executed the work, which was erected in 1995 as a gift to the community from the estate of the late Margaret Johnson Patterson Bartlett, great-granddaughter of Johnson.
Replica of Andrew Johnson's birthplace.
All four corners of the Depot Street/College Street/Academy Street intersection, now officially designated by the town as Andrew Johnson Square, are occupied by memorials to the 17th president.
OLD HARMONY GRAVEYARD is next on the tour. This historic site is where many important former residents of the community were laid to rest.
The cemetery is located directly behind Greeneville Town Hall.
The site was established as a cemetery in 1791 in connection with what was then Harmony Presbyterian Church. That congregation evolved into today’s First Presbyterian Church, which will be visited later on the tour route.
Some of the Scots-Irish settlers of Greeneville are buried in Old Harmony Graveyard.
Other notables who rest in Old Harmony Graveyard include Mordecai Lincoln, Dr. Hezekiah Balch, Dr. Charles Coffin, Valentine Sevier, William Dickson, Dr. Alexander Williams and Blackstone McDannel.
Soldiers who were in every American war from the Revolution through the Civil War are buried there.
The next site is nearby GREENEVILLE TOWN HALL. This classical-style building, completed in 1967, stands on historic grounds.
The church that later became Greeneville’s First Presbyterian Church was on this site. At another time, the home of Judge Sam Milligan, a contemporary of Johnson, stood on the grounds.
A pioneering abolitionist newspaper, published by a Quaker named Benjamin Lundy during the 1822-1824 period, was located on or near this site.
The newspaper was called the Genius of Universal Emancipation. While in Greeneville, Lundy also published a weekly paper, the Economist and Political Paper. After 1824, the Genius was moved to Baltimore.
Jeffers Mortuary, next door to Town Hall, occupies an 1893 Victorian house, initially the M.P. Reeve home.
From Town Hall, go across College Street to the Roby Fitzgerald Adult Center. Greeneville’s first public school was operated out of this building.
Opening in the early 1890s, it eventually came to be known as Roby Fitzgerald School, named for Miss Roby Fitzgerald, a much-admired and much-loved principal and teacher who educated many Greeneville citizens within the school’s mellow brick walls.
Today the building houses not only the Roby Fitzgerald Adult Center (a senior citizens’ facility), but also the RSVP and ACCESS programs.
Next to the Roby Fitzgerald Adult Center is a small log cabin that serves as a representation of the CAPITOL OF THE LOST STATE OF FRANKLIN.
From 1785 to 1788, Greeneville was the capital of the short-lived “Lost State of Franklin.”
In 1796, this area became part of Tennessee when the state was established.
The structure represents the style of a building, shown in early photographs, that was reported to have been the actual capitol building of the “lost state.”
The original capitol stood on the site of the existing Greene County Courthouse.
Behind the representation of the Franklin capitol and adjacent to the Greeneville-Greene County Library is BICENTENNIAL PARK, developed in 1983 in celebration of Greeneville’s 200th birthday.
Near the park is the BIG SPRING, which runs through a picturesque stone-lined moat under a quaint, arching footbridge. Many years ago, it was simply a wilderness spring that attracted game, Indians, and, finally, settlers who became the first residents of Greeneville.
Samuel Doak, famed frontier preacher, is said to have preached at this spring.
For more than 150 years, the Big Spring served as the town’s major water supply.
Close by the Big Spring is one of Greeneville’s two VALENTINE SEVIER HOUSES.
Valentine Sevier, a nephew of John Sevier, Tennessee’s first governor — who also was governor of Franklin, an early settler, and a famed Indian fighter — built this house around 1820. It is a private residence now.
Heading up North Main Street at the Spencer Street intersection, one next encounters the HENEGAR TRIM HOUSE, which dates from immediately after the Civil War. A few doors up from the Henegar Trim House is the JAMES M. FOWLER house, built in the 1850s.
Dr. Fowler’s wedding coat was made by Andrew Johnson and is on display in the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Visitor Center, which includes Johnson’s tailor shop.
The RIPLEY HOUSE (1868) and the EDMUND B. MILLER HOUSE (1856) are examples of Greek Revival architecture. Durin g the Civil War, Miller, a Union supporter, may have been the individual who led Union troops to Greeneville, where their attack led to the death of Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan.
Other historic homes across North Main above Spencer are HARMONY HOUSE, a beautiful two-story brick home built in 1851, and ANTRIM, a restored log house originally built by Thomas Alexander at a different Greene County site. Antrim is nestled among the trees at the rear and to the north side of Harmony House.
Confederate soldiers camped in the back yard during the Civil War. Harmony House was the home of Dr. W.A. Harmon, who was a teacher at Rhea Academy in the 1850s and was also a physician and a lawyer.
Heading back down Main Street into Greeneville, one soon encounters the property upon which once stood the ROBERT KERR HOUSE. Kerr was the man who provided land to Greene County for use as a county seat.
His provision of that land is believed to have been the key reason why Greeneville, and not some other Greene County community, became the county seat.
Kerr’s log house also served as a tavern and a meeting place for the Upper House of the State of Franklin legislature.
Greeneville’s recently expanded First Baptist Church, built in 1948, stands on the old Kerr property.
Just past the old Kerr property is the site where the GREENEVILLE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, founded in 1841 with 30 charter members, stands at the corner of Main and Church streets. The structure is another fine example of Greek Revival architecture.
The church’s best known feature is a cannonball, which is representative of the one that slammed into the front wall on Sept. 4, 1864, the day Gen. John Hunt Morgan was killed nearby.
The cannonball used as a replacement for the original is visible in the wall.
Just around the corner and across West Church Street stands ST. JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH, occupying a beautiful, traditional church building. Built in 1850 and designed by George M. Spencer, this white frame church’s interior features elegant walnut woodwork and pews, a one-time slave gallery (now the choir loft), and the oldest organ in Tennessee.
A sign in the churchyard states, “The center of this block was once the garden of the Williams House [now known as the Dickson-Williams Mansion] where Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan of Morgan’s Raiders fame and his staff were billeted. Just after dawn, a detail of Brig. Gen. Alvan C. Gillem’s Federal forces slipped past Confederate outposts, surrounded the house, surprised and killed Morgan and captured his staff.”
At the intersection of Irish and Church streets, one will discover the fully restored DICKSON-WILLIAMS MANSION (referred to previously as “the Williams House”).
Once an East Tennessee showplace residence, the house was built by Greeneville’s first postmaster, William Dickson, between 1815 and 1821 for his daughter, Catharine, as a future wedding present.
In 1823, when she was married, the fine brick home became the residence of Catharine Dickson and her husband, Dr. Alexander Williams.
Notables who were entertained there in the ensuing decades included Presidents James K. Polk and Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, Mrs. Francis Hodgsen Burnett (author of Little Lord Fauntleroy) and Gen. Wade Hampton.
During the Civil War, as Greeneville changed hands, the house was used from time to time as both a Union and a Confederate headquarters, and provided lodging for Gens. Ambrose Burnside and Alvan C. Gillem of the Union Army and, of course, Gen. Morgan of the Confederate Army.
Tours of the Dickson-Williams Mansion start daily at 1 p.m. from the lobby of the General Morgan Inn. Call Main Street Tours at 787-0500 for more information.
Back on Main Street is the FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, located at 110 N. Main St. Dating back to 1848, the building is an example of Federal architecture.
Established in 1780, the church has the earliest origin among Greene County congregations, and grew out of the old Mt. Bethel church. The church was known as Harmony Church before its name was changed to First Presbyterian Church.
The DRAKE-BROWN HOUSE, built during the 1850s by Lewis J. Drake, stands at 206 S. Irish St. It later became the home of John A. Brown.
Until recently, U.S. District Judge and former state senator Ronnie Greer used the house as his law offices. He was formally invested as district judge in July 2003, and has moved his office to the James H. Quillen United States Courthouse.
The SHEETS HOME is located next door. This establishment later became the family home of Dr. and Mrs. George E. Scott and the location of his dental practice. Today their son, Dr. Haden Scott, practices dentistry there.
The SAMUEL SNAPP HOUSE is next in line, and the RUMBOUGH HOUSE, home of a Confederate officer during the Civil War, is across the street. Both date from the 1840s.
Circling back to South Main Street at East Depot Street on the official “Walk With the President” route, one finds the governmental center of the county at COURTHOUSE SQUARE. Many of this city’s most important historic events have occurred here, dating back to the days when the State of Franklin’s capitol stood there.
Other highlights include the Greeneville Union Convention of June 1861 and the funeral of President Andrew Johnson in 1875.
Monuments on the courthouse lawn honor, among others, John Sevier, governor of the state of Franklin and first elected governor of the new Tennessee in 1796; the many Union soldiers from Greene County who served in the Civil War, and Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan.
Near Courthouse Square is the tour’s next stop, the MANSION HOUSE. This house was the site of an 1835 reception for Andrew Jackson. It was also originally the home of John Dickson.
The current appearance of the home differs dramatically from the original.
Once a two-story brick house with double chimneys, it now houses the businesses of Lancaster’s Jewelers and Adams & Plucker, CPA, and looks more like a typical storefront than the residential mansion it originally was.
Farther down South Main Street is the SEVIER-LOWRY HOUSE, Greeneville’s oldest standing structure and the second Valentine Sevier house on the tour route.
Though covered with clapboards for more than a century, the core of this 1790s structure is actually constructed of logs. The mantel in the drawing room comes from the law office of Gen. Thomas D. Arnold, a noted local attorney and congressman who lived in Greeneville from about 1830 until his death in 1870.
Next door to the Sevier-Lowry house is GREENWOOD, a two-story brick house that was begun in 1810 and expanded in the late 1840s. It was occupied by the McDowell family until the Civil War, then became the residence of William R. Brown.
Andrew Johnson's late home
Johnson purchased his first Greeneville home, the brick house near his tailor shop, from Mordecai Lincoln, a second cousin to Abraham Lincoln, and also the man who performed the marriage ceremony of Johnson and Eliza McCardle.
A legal snag kept the title to the house from going through to Johnson for about 20 years.
When Johnson finally received the title, he traded the house along with $950 for the home that most people today associate with him — the Johnson Homestead. During the most momentous years of his public life, this was Johnson’s Tennessee residence.
Open to the public, this house provides a glimpse into the home life of Johnson and his family, and of domestic life generally in the mid-1800s.
On most days, guided tours may be scheduled hourly. Tour arrangements are made at the Andrew Johnson Visitor Center located on College Street at the corner of East Depot Street.
The next stop on the tour is the NATHANAEL GREENE MUSEUM, located on West McKee Street at South Main Street. Reflecting more than 200 years of history, this museum contains artifacts from throughout Greene County illustrating various aspects of life here over the centuries.
Andrew Johnson's memorial.
Andrew Johnson himself selected the hill, which belonged to him at the time, as his final resting place. Johnson’s wife, his mother, his mother-in-law, and all of his children are buried there.
The rest of the cemetery is used for the burial of honorably discharged military personnel and their spouses.
Now open to the public as a historic site is the OLD GREENE COUNTY GAOL, located behind the Greene County Courthouse.
The one-story limestone-rock jail was originally erected in 1804-05 in what is now the middle of Depot Street. The dungeon-like gaol was torn down and moved to its present site in 1838, and in 1882, a red brick second story was added.
Other historic homes in the downtown district include: the George Jones House (1840), North Main Street; the Wheat Williams House (early 1800s), corner of McKee and Irish streets; the McKee House and Law Office (1860s), opposite the Wheat Williams House on the corner of McKee and Irish streets; the Dr. J.E. Alexander Home (post-Civil War), West Irish Street; “Boxwood Manor,” the Joseph R. Brown-Milligan House (1850s), South Main Street; and the James G. Reaves House (“Walnut Lawn Farm”) (1855), also on South Main Street.
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