Introduction

Welcome to the President James K. Polk State Historic Site, the birthplace of the 11th President of the United States James K. Polk. You are standing on 21 of the original 150 acres, gifted as a wedding present to Samuel and Jane Polk, James’ parents. Jane’s father, James Knox, passed away shortly before his daughter’s wedding and in his will he deeded Jane several household items, a mare named Silver and two enslaved girls Violet and Lucy who were 7 and 8 years old at the time. The couple married in 1794 and in 1795, they welcomed a baby boy into the world, who they named James Knox Polk, in honor of Jane’s departed father.

Jane and Samuel went on to have 10 children, all of which lived to adulthood, an impressive accomplishment in those days! During their time in Pineville, they gave birth to 5 of their children and acquired more acreage and enslaved laborers. In 1806 the couple packed up their children, belongings, as well as Lucy, Violet and a baby boy named Elias (son of either Lucy or Violet) and moved to Columbia, TN. The farm in Pineville was sold and none of the structures were preserved. The cabins you see today while authentic to the time period, were relocated and reconstructed on the site when it became a historic site in the 1968.

For our next stop we will walk to the sign in between the two cabins to introduce the enslaved Polks.