Ever since the Hermitage was opened to the public as a museum in 1889, over 15 million people have come far and wide to visit this historical landmark.

The Hermitage is always associated to the 7th president of the United States, Andrew Jackson, who was primarily responsible for building the manor into the magnificent structure it is today. But unknown to some, the Hermitage was originally owned and settled by a man named Nathaniel Hays.

The Hermitage started out as a 640-acre land grant claim by Nathaniel Hays in 1780. Just like the other settlers during the time, he was forced to flee the region in 1783 due to the ongoing Indian wars. He returned 5 years after with his wife, three children and two African American slaves with a clear intent to cultivate his neglected land. He spent 2 years constructing a 2 story log house in Gravelly Spring, clearing fields and bartering the cotton he grew near Andrew Jackson’s Hunter’s Hill plantation.

In 1804, Hays decided to move to Bedford country and since he and Jackson had developed a bit of a friendship, he decided to sell his land to Jackson in July 5, 1804 for the price of $3,400 USD. Although his Hunter’s Hill plantation located in the Cumberland River was more valuable than Hays’ land, Jackson decided to sell the Hunter’s Hill plantation in order to pay off the $3, 400 USD.

Once the property was his, Jackson immediately set his mind on developing it. The interiors were decked with French wallpaper and painted trim which was done by a Nashville craftsman that Jackson hired. In only one month, he and his wife, Rachel, moved into the new property which they named Rural Retreat. The reason why the name was switched from Rural Retreat to Hermitage is still subject to discussion, but the “Hermitage” in essence has practically the same meaning as “Rural Retreat”.

In 1829, Andrew Jackson took his seat as the seventh president of the United States. Governing an entire country would definitely take his attention away from supervising the Hermitage, which he had rapidly grown from a small farm into a 1, 000-acre plantation since the 1820s. Under his care and supervision, the once 640-acre land now housed many outbuildings, a dairy, distillery, cotton gin and press and carriage shelter. 200 hundred acres of the land were used on cotton, which is where he took his finances, while the remainder of the farm provided food for their family as well as the slaves and livestock. Another part of the farm was also used on raising thoroughbreds, which was said to be Andrew Jackson’s true passion in life.

He passed the care of the Hermitage to his son, Andrew Jackson Jr., who along with several of his Nashville friends supervised Hermitage affairs. But seeing that he had devoted so much time and effort on the Hermitage, he couldn’t help but supervise the continuous up scaling of their Rural Retreat. Even while he was in the White house in 1831, President Jackson still supervised the up scaling of the mansion.

The rapid decline of the Hermitage began after its master’s death in 1845. The passionate efforts of a group of Tennessee women who made up the Ladies’ Hermitage Association is the primary reason why the Hermitage continues to stand close to its previous grandeur to this day.