Emerald Hill

Henry was a Whig orator who lost two big races. In 1843 he ran for Congress against Cave Johnson and fell 228 votes short; in 1853 his party nominated him for governor and he lost to the Democrat Andrew Johnson, a defeat his biographer called a turning point. He never ran again. He also practiced law and operated three plantations, joined the Democrats after the war, and died at Emerald Hill in 1880. The house is now the Alumni Center of Austin Peay State University.

What the plaque says

Emerald Hill Here was the home of Gustavus Henry (1804-1880). For three years a member of the Kentucky Legislature, he later served a term in the Tennessee Assembly. He represented Tennessee in the Senate of the Confederate States of America during the entire existence of that government.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Defiance Civil War Park and Interpretive Center — 0.6 mi
  An intact earthwork fort above the Cumberland and Red Rivers in Clarksville, begun with forced Black labor and later a contraband camp and recruiting center for Black soldiers.
• Dunbar Cave State Park — 3.4 mi
  A Clarksville cave with 800-year-old Mississippian artwork, later a resort and Roy Acuff's dance stage, now a state park with seasonal guided tours.
• Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge — 24 mi
  An 8,862-acre refuge on the Cumberland River floodplain near Dover, made in 1962 to replace habitat Lake Barkley flooded, wintering tens of thousands of waterfowl.

More markers nearby

• Smith-Trahern Mansion — 0.3 mi
• Burt High School — 0.7 mi
• Austin Peay State University — 0.7 mi
• Clarence Cameron White — 0.7 mi