From Jackson’s letters, maps, and other documents Hermitage archaeologists know that there were at least one hundred buildings and structures on the Hermitage Property during Jackson’s life. While some of these buildings have been found, most have not. Fortunately, archaeological evidence and Jackson’s documents provide clues as to where they were. Examples of these buildings include: the overseer’s house, barns, stables, carriage houses, the blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, and spinning/weaving shop. Since the first archaeological dig took place at The Hermitage in the 1970s, hundreds of thousands of artifacts have been uncovered and numerous previously unknown or missing buildings have been located. What follows is just a sampling of discoveries made by Hermitage Archaeologists.

The Mansion Backyard

The backyard of the Hermitage mansion was a busy place in Jackson's day.

Slave Dwellings
Slave cabins at The Hermitage were a standard 20-foot square cabin for each family unit. Most were constructed of brick, but some were log. The majority were duplexes with each unit having one door, one window, a small loft area, and a fireplace used for heat and cooking. Within all of these standardized cabins, we have found root cellars dug into the soil beneath the floorboards. Each root cellar is of varying size and shape which indicates that the slaves built them to their own tastes. Most of the root cellars are brick lined and some have brick floors. These distinctive and important features, hidden away from Jackson and his overseers, are critical to understanding aspects of slaves’ lives that they retained control over.

Alfred’s Cabin
Home of Alfred Jackson, a slave and later a free tenant, who lived at The Hermitage until 1901. It is a duplex log cabin and the only slave dwelling still standing in the backyard of the mansion. The construction date of this cabin is uncertain, but artifacts indicate a date of 1850 or before. Research strongly suggests the cabin was moved to its present location from somewhere else on the property. Hermitage archaeologists conducted extensive testing and excavation around the cabin. Along with a wide variety of artifacts, historic fence lines were found around the cabin. This information provides clues about the backyard’s divisions between private and public space.

"Yard Cabin"

Archaeologists investigate the "yard cabin."

"Triplex"
Built c.1830, the "Triplex" was a 60 foot by 20 foot building northwest of the Hermitage mansion, divided into three separate slave units each with a fireplace and chimney. It is the only known triplex on the property. Archaeologists have excavated the interior of each unit and the yard spaces outside. The extensive artifact collections from the interior of these units include animal bone, ceramics, glass, and children’s marbles. An especially interesting find was a large quantity of sewing related artifacts such as needle cases, thimbles, carved bone-lacing rods, straight pins, and dozens of buttons. It is possible that these sewing implements belonged to Gracy, the plantation seamstress. All three units had brick-lined root cellars that would have been under the floorboards.

Icehouse
Archaeologists have located the Hermitage icehouse, which stood directly behind the smokehouse in the backyard of the Hermiitage mansion. The icehouse was a square, below ground feature lined with wood planks. The structure would have been lined with hay and then filled with blocks of ice cut from streams and rivers. Typical icehouses had a ground-level A-frame roof with steps leading down into the pit where the ice was stored. The icehouse was probably constructed in the 1830s and abandoned in the late nineteenth century.

The First Hermitage

The First Hermitage was a complex of log buildings where the Jackson’s lived, from 1804-1821. A two-story log farmhouse stood at this site when Jackson purchased it in 1804. Quickly thereafter Jackson had an adjoining kitchen/slave quarter built. At least two other buildings stood in this complex. Six field seasons of archaeological work have taken place at this important site.

The First Hermitage Farmhouse

Archaeology has been an important source of information about the First Hermitage complex during its use as a slave quarters.

The First Hermitage Kitchen
The First Hermitage Kitchen building is a log duplex measuring 18 x 30 feet with a chimney/hearth at either end. Presumably one side would have been used as the kitchen for the Jackson household, while the other would have housed slaves. It is in this building that we know Betty the cook lived. Excavation of this dwelling revealed multiple brick root cellars under it. Artifacts that could firmly be associated with the slave period include: two pierced coins, decorated clay marbles, hand-blown medicine vials, leather shoe pieces, a shell ornament, as well as thousands of sherds of ceramics and glass. A blue-transfer print meat platter found under the kitchen was one of the largest pieces of intact ceramic ever excavated at The Hermitage.

The First Hermitage Yard
In addition to excavation of the interior of the First Hermitage buildings, work was done in the yard areas surrounding both. While much of the area between the cabins appeared to have been swept clean, other areas revealed interesting features, such as an outdoor cooking hearth, multiple ash deposits (from fireplace cleanings), and a fence line to the east of the kitchen building. We also discovered that one of the original chimney bases had been completely replaced while the other was intact underneath more modern repairs.

The South and Southeast Cabins
Archaeologists have also discovered the remains of two other buildings near the First Hermitage known as the South and Southeast cabins. At the South Cabin archaeologists located the limestone foundation of what appears to have been a brick duplex. During this testing a rich assortment of domestic artifacts was uncovered. Archaeologists also discovered the remains of a chimney associated with another building at this site known as the Southeast Cabin. The large range of household artifacts, including bone, beads and buttons, early 19th century ceramics, lead archaeologists to believe it was a dwelling as opposed to a farm outbuilding. Both building sites need further investigation.

The Field Quarter Site

An artist's conception of the view at the field quarters.

Farm Buildings

During the summer of 2001, Archaeologists searched for the cotton gin house and press. Historical documents proved that Andrew Jackson had a cotton gin and press built and in operation by 1807. Research indicated that those buildings were located in one of the cotton fields just beyond the First Hermitage. Hermitage archaeologists tested this field and found a raised area of ground with heavy concentrations of brick and limestone. Excavations uncovered evidence of post holes from the corners/sides of a large log building that is believed to be the cotton gin house. This building housed the ginning machinery and also contained storage rooms for cotton. Jackson’s cotton press was also discovered just 90 feet from the gin house. The pit press was a 9 foot deep pit lined on the bottom with brick and limestone and had two parallel limestone walls on either side that formed a box-like structure. The ginned cotton was dropped into a framed box that was in the bottom of the pit and an 11 foot screw turned by a horse powered treadmill pressed the cotton into bales weighing 500 pounds each.

The Hermitage Landscape

Garden
Excavations have been conducted in and around the garden to answer questions about its original size, paths, layout, and fence lines. Archaeologists learned that the garden went through at least three major alterations and renovations. Some of these changes include changing fence lines around the garden, circular planting beds found underneath the library wing of the mansion, planting beds that were lined with brick, and earlier pathways that may have been paved with crushed brick. Artifacts were infrequently found in the garden but some do reflect gardening activities.

Carriage Drive
Archaeologists tested this guitar-shaped driveway to answer a basic question. What did the driveway look like in Jackson’s time? They discovered that the driveway was roughly the same shape and width as it is now (about 10 feet). Originally it was paved with small to golf-ball size chunks of limestone, which would have firmly supported carriages and horses as they approached the mansion.

Yard Fences
Many years of testing and excavation uncovered the post hole lines where the Hermitage mansion yard fences ran. Evidence from the post holes combined with documentary sources showed that a fence once surrounded the mansion. In 2002, the yard fence was recreated as it stood historically. This fence was an extremely important physical and symbolic barrier that separated the private mansion yard from the very busy yards of the working plantation.