ABOUT
White House is a city in Robertson and Sumner counties in the United States state of Tennessee. The population was 7,220 at the 2000 census.
History
The area that is now White House was purchased around 1828 by Richard Stone Wilks, a settler from Virginia. A trail running from Kentucky to Nashville, originally created by Native Americans, cut through the area. This trail was originally known as the Louisville & Nashville Turnpike during the mid-19th century. In 1928, the trail was renamed US Highway 31W. In the mid-19th century, the Carter, Thomas, and Hough Stagecoach Company traveled the L&N Turnpike carrying passengers. A typical stop along the way was a white, two-story house built by Richard Wilks in 1829. The house was a popular stop for lodging, food, and changing out horses. President Andrew Jackson was even heard to have stayed here during his travels between his home and the White House. During this time, houses were rarely painted white, particularly in this underdeveloped area. The stage coach drivers began to call this stop and the surrounding area White House. The monument for which the town was named was torn down in 1951 to make way for new development. However, in 1986, the community erected a replica of the original building. The reproduction, called the White House Inn Library and Museum, currently sits in the center of town next to the Fire Department. It contains the library, a museum with artifacts from the area's early years, and the city's Chamber of Commerce. In 2015, the replica White House Inn Library and Museum was turned solely into a museum and Chamber of Commerce after the city built a new library. White House was incorporated in 1921.