Zachary Taylor House

The Zachary Taylor House, also known as Springfield, was the boyhood home of the twelfth President of the United States, Zachary Taylor. Located in what is now a residential area of Louisville, Kentucky, Taylor lived there from 1795 to 1808, held his marriage there in 1810, and returned there periodically the rest of his life.

Zachary Taylor's father, Colonel Richard Taylor, purchased a 400-acre farm on the Muddy Fork of Beargrass Creek in 1785, while Zachary was eight months old. They initially lived in a log cabin on the property. Commencing in June, 1792, after participating in the constitutional convention that made Kentucky a state, Col. Taylor built a two-story brick house on the land that he purchased from Isaac Shelby. He sold that house to George Rudy on Dec. 1, 1795. During that time, Richard Taylor built a second house at the highest point on his property, dubbing it "Springfield". By 1800 Richard Taylor purchased an additional three hundred acres, making his property 700 acres in total. The property was adjacent to Locust Grove, the farm where George Rogers Clark lived from 1809 until his death in 1818. Before he began his military career in 1808, Zachary Taylor lived thirteen years in the house. He would later return to the house to be married on June 18, 1810, and have five of his six children born in the house. In 1829 the house was sold upon Richard Taylor's death, due to debts he had acquired. After his death in 1850, Zachary Taylor was buried in the family cemetery located on the property. This later became the original section of Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.

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