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Secondary sourceArtifactc. 1790s-1830

Zachary Taylor House

Richard Taylor · c. 1790s-1830

The boyhood home of Zachary Taylor near Louisville, Kentucky, where he grew up, married, and later returned throughout his life.

This was Taylor's childhood home, where he grew up, married, and later had children before his presidency.

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A two-story white brick house with dark green shutters, a central front door with a small flag beside it, a tall brick chimney, and a large leafy tree in the foreground on a sunny day with a lawn.
Zachary Taylor House (Springfield), Louisville, Kentucky, built c. 1790s-1830s.

About this source

What it is

Known as Springfield, this brick house near Louisville, Kentucky was built by Richard Taylor, Zachary Taylor's father, beginning around 1792. Zachary Taylor lived there for thirteen years before starting his military career, married there in 1810, and several of his children were born in the house. It still stands as a National Historic Landmark.

Why it matters

The house shows the world Taylor came from: a wealthy Kentucky farming family whose property, and the house itself, was built with the labor of enslaved people. It connects the later president to the frontier gentry class of the early United States, and to the practice of slavery that shaped his family's wealth.

Look closer

  • What does the size and style of the house tell you about the Taylor family's wealth?
  • Who actually built this house, and what does that tell you about the economy of the time?
  • Why might a house like this later be preserved as a historic landmark?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Zachary Taylor on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Document

Primary source

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Nicholas Trist; Mexican commission · 2 February 1848

Handwritten manuscript on aged paper with cursive text and crossed-out words, showing the resolutions of the Compromise of 1850, including provisions on California statehood and slavery in the territories.Document

Primary source

Compromise of 1850

Henry Clay · 29 January 1850 (resolutions); statutes enacted September 1850

Speech

Primary source

Inaugural Address of Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor · 5 March 1849

Black-and-white daguerreotype of eight men in dark suits and white collars seated and standing in a row against a dark background. The plate is scratched and worn, with a mottled border.Photograph

Primary source

The Taylor Administration

Mathew Benjamin Brady · 1849

Sepia-toned daguerreotype portrait of an older man with white, tousled hair in a dark military-style double-breasted uniform coat with rows of buttons and shoulder insignia, seated with hands out of view, facing the camera with a stern expression against a gray backdrop.Photograph

Primary source

Zachary Taylor half plate daguerreotype

unknown, possibly Maguire of New Orleans · c. 1843-1845

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