Oliver Perry House (White House)

The Oliver Perry House photographed at Camp Nelson during the Civil War.

Camp Nelson Photographic Collection, 1864, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.

War at the Doorsteps

The general commanding calls upon all members of his command to remember that the present campaign takes them through a friendly territory, and that humanity and the best interests of the service require that the peaceable inhabitants be treated with kind kindness, and that every protection be given by the soldiers to them and to their property.
-Major General Ambrose E. Burnside, Camp Nelson, August 14, 1863

The Oliver Perry House, also known as the White House, is the only remaining building within the boundaries of Camp Nelson National Monument that dates to the Civil War. The two-story frame Greek Revival house was constructed in the mid-1850s by Oliver and Fannie Scott Perry on the land of Mary Scott, Fannie Scott’s mother. When Camp Nelson was established in 1863, the US Army occupied the house for miliary use. The house served as the headquarters of Major General George L. Hartsuff, commander of the Twenty-third Corps, before the commencement of the East Tennessee Campaign in August 1863.

The White House later served as US Army Quartermaster and Commissary officers’ quarters through the end of the war. One change in the house that occurred during the military occupation was the accidental burning of the detached kitchen behind the main house later in 1865 or 1866. The US Army replaced the detached kitchen with an attached two-story frame and kitchen addition that stands today. After the Civil War ended and Camp Nelson was closed, the house was re-occupied by its original owners.

 

The Oliver Perry House [White House] during winter at Camp Nelson National Monument.

NPS

White House Rehabilitation

The White House is currently undergoing renovation work and is closed to the public. Ongoing repairs started in 2021 and will continue into the forseeable future. The National Park Service will provide updates on the renovation, repair, and rehabilitation of the historic home.