The remains of President Polk have nmoved several times over the years, and that's not an April Fool's Joke.
James K. Polk served as President until Jan. 1849. He planned to spend his retired years at his newly acquired mansion in downtown Nashville which was known as Polk Place. Before he went to his new home, he toured parts of the country, but he got sick before getting home. After spending three months at home, he died of Cholera on June 15, 1849.
Due to the cholera scare, laws were passed where those who fell victim to the infectious disease had restriction on their burials. Polk was unceremoniously buried here at Nashville City Cemetery in an area intended for Felix Grundy. His body only remained here for about a year.
On May 22, 1850, Polk's body was moved to the preferred location of his home, Polk Place. His wife Sarah Childress Polk lived at Polk Place another four decades but passed away in 1891. Two years later, developers wanted the prime real estate of Polk Place, and President Polk was moved again, along with his wife to the grounds of the state capitol in 1893. Since his body hasn't moved enough, in 2017 the Tennessee legislature voted to move the Polk's bodies to the Polk Ancestrial Home in Columbia, but the Governor never signed the law.
In 2015, the Nashville City Cemetery placed a simple marker at the almost forgotten spot where Polk was originally buried.
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