Polk’s Boyhood Home

Polk’s Boyhood Home is a Tennessee historical marker in Maury County.

TN 6 (US 31), 2.2 miles north of Rutherford Creek

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The first house here was built by Maj. Samuel Polk, who came here from North Carolina in 1806. In his family was the ten-year-old son, James Knox Polk, who was to become the 11th President of the United States. He spent his boyhood here.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1794 · Map of the Tennessee Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1796 · Map of The Tennassee (sic) Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1797 · Tennassee Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1809 · United States of America, southern part. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1814 · Kentucky (Mathew Carey, 1814) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

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