The Hermitage

History in the Heat 

May 10, 2026 • Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage 

I decided to spend today exploring The Hermitage, and apparently I picked a day that felt hot as hell to walk the entire property. 😂

I toured the mansion first and then kept going through the grounds instead of just stopping there. I walked all the way out to the Field Quarter, where enslaved field workers and their families once lived. Archaeologists found the remains of four brick duplexes there, arranged around a central courtyard. 

I also walked out to The Enslaved Cemetery, which sits farther back on the property. It was one of those parts of the grounds that made the whole place feel a lot bigger than just Andrew Jackson’s house and made me think more about all the people whose lives were tied to that land. 

One of the coolest things I saw before even getting to the mansion was Path of Glory — 1,776 full-size American flags spread across the grounds for America’s 250th anniversary. I knew there were a lot of flags, but I definitely didn’t realize there were that many. 😂 The display had opened in April, so it was already up when I visited on May 10. 

I actually walked the whole thing, but I barely took pictures compared to what I normally do because by the end I was HOT and mainly interested in making it back somewhere with air conditioning.

Still, I’m glad I kept going past the mansion. There was way more history spread out across the property than I expected, and I would’ve missed a lot of it if I had just toured the house and left.