MERCER HALL

Mercer Hall is located on 902 Mercer Ct off of Trotwood Ave, Columbia, TN (35º36.778N  87º3.011W). It is not a hard house to find but it is a hard house to photograph because of all the close vegetation.

The center portion of this building was raised prior to 1820. In 1829 it was owned by future President of the USA, James K. Polk. He owned it of 7 years when he transferred ownership to his sister Ophelia Polk Hayes.

In 1848, Rev. James Hervey Otey, the First Episcopal Bishop of Tennessee made it his home. Soon, he turned it into a boy's school and named it Mercer Hall after it benefactor Dr. William Mercer.

During the Civil War, Mercer Hall served as headquarters for Union General Jacob Cox. Soldiers also used it to hide. They kept their horses in the basement.

Mercer Hall is an example of Greek Revival Architecture. The current owners have done a lot of work restoring both its outside and inside into what it looked like in the 1800's.