The Cordell Hull Birthplace State Historic Park was designated a state park in 1997. The 58-acre site is located on the Highland Rim, near Byrdstown, north of Cookeville, close to the Kentucky border.
Cordell Hull was born and raised in Olympus, Tenn. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and eventually as Secretary of State in 1933 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Hull holds title as the longest serving Secretary of State in American history. He authored legislation creating the federal income tax in 1913 and later the inheritance tax in 1916. Hull is also considered the “Father of the United Nations” for being the architect in the creation of the United Nations. He was recognized in 1945 with the Nobel Prize for Peace, an honor for which Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated him.
Cordell Hull Birthplace State Park includes a representation of Hull’s log cabin birthplace and period gardens, the Cordell Hull Museum which displays a variety of photographs and artifacts and an activities center. The park also includes the Hull Library and Archives that houses the entire Cordell Hull Collection consisting of more than 1,500 books and hundreds of original photographs, documents and artifacts. The collection includes a replica of his Nobel Peace Prize.
