President James K. Polk Home & Museum, Tennessee, United States

4.5 (239 reviews) Saturday: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Spent 1-2 hours Ranking #1 in Columbia Historic Sites

Polk Ancestral Home

The only surviving residence of James K. Polk other than the White House. Samuel Polk, a prosperous farmer and surveyor, built the house in 1816 while his oldest son James was attending the University of North Carolina. When the future President graduated in 1818, he returned to Tennessee and stayed here with his parents until his marriage to Sarah Childress in 1824. While living in his family’s Columbia home, James practiced law and began his political career by successfully running for the state legislature. Visitors today get to see original possessions of President and Mrs. Polk including furniture, paintings, clothing, documents and White House china.
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Address

301 W 7th St, Columbia, TN 38401-3132

Mobile

+1 931-505-8019

Website

http://www.jameskpolk.com

Email

[email protected]

Working hours

Monday : 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday : 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday : 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday : 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday : 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday : 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday : 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Current local date and time now

Saturday, May 11, 2024, 13:34

User Ratings

4.5 based on (239 reviews)

Excellent

69%

Good

26%

Satisfactory

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Reviews

5Brett4343 5:00 PM Feb 22, 2022
A Gem!
My siblings and I visited the Polk home and museum this morning and absolutely loved the experience. Love him, hate him, or somewhere in between, no denying that President Polk was a tremendously influential President. The intro video is a nice overview of his life and time as President, the museum is small, but well done and the tour of the home was magnificent. The museum and tour do a great job of telling Polk's whole story, including that he was a slave owner and profited off of it. Our guide was outstanding and was able to answer our questions during an intimate and informative tour. Highly recommend visiting.
5ktbeenthere2015 5:00 PM Jan 17, 2021
An unexpected win
Polk was a dark horse in the run for the presidency and so was this Polk ancestral house for our visit to Columbia. I never expected to enjoy this tour as much as I did. The museum display had the perfect amount of information- not too much to inundate or too little that you are constantly left wondering. The house itself had some unique pieces, but not astonishing, which is where this museum makes the most of what they have: their personnel. The tour guide Zack was knowledgeable and enthusiastic- his love for history and Polk was contagious. His descriptions of what we could see sparked our curiosity and stimulated our interest. Definitely worth a stop for history lovers.