The Pillars

The Pillars, built circa 1828, is now an Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities property. John Houston Bills bought this impressive home in 1837 and began enlarging and refining the property. According to his diary, while living in Bolivar, the Bills family hosted notable guests such as Andrew Jackson, Congressman Adam Huntsman, Sam Houston, Rt. Rev. Leonidas Polk, and various Civil War Generals both South and North. Prior to purchasing the property the home was visited by Davy Crockett and other political people.  The Pillars served as a hospital twice during the war, alternately providing care for men on both sides of the conflict. After his death in 1871, family members lived in the home until his last unmarried granddaughter died in the 1960s the family donated the house intact to the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities (APTA).