Columbia and The Polk Family
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Of the distinguished family names associated with Maury County history, the best known is that of Polk. James Knox Polk was the eleventh president of the United States (1845-1849). During his tenure as president, 80,000 square miles were added to the territory of the United States, extending its breadth to the Pacific Coast. Historians rate Polk as one of the great presidents. Under his leadership, the United States was extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. His first law office was in Columbia, and his ancestral home, a Historic National Landmark, is located downtown. Polk's cousins--Lucius, Leonidas, Rufus, and George Polk--were heirs to large Maury County land holdings at Ashwood. Two of their plantation homes remain: Hamilton Place, built by Lucius Polk in 1832; and Rattle and Snap, George Polk's home, which was completed in 1845. Rattle and Snap is considered one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the nation. Nearby is St. John's Episcopal Church (1842), built by Bishop/General Leonidas Polk and his brothers. It is one of the last remaining plantation churches in Tennessee.