The Mckinley National Memorial in Canton, the final resting place of President William McKinley. (Thomas Ondrey/The Plain Dealer)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – From Mentor to Marion to tiny North Bend, Ohio, the state has numerous sites where U.S. presidents lived, worked, played and stayed.
Now, there's one place where you can find out all about them – the new Ohio Presidential Trail, an online guide organized by TourismOhio, with help from the Ohio History Connection.
The site lists 14 places with significant presidential connections, from the Ulysses .S. Grant Birthplace Home to the William McKinley Memorial to the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library.
TourismOhio launched the trail this month, just in time for a Presidents Day getaway (but make sure to check hours first; not all sites are open on the holiday and some are still closed for the season).
The trail is one of dozens included in TourismOhio's new marketing pitch to draw visitors to the state. Other trails include the Ohio Buckeye Candy Trail, Ohio Ice Cream Trail and Ohio Antique Trail.
But none have the historical importance of the Presidential Trail.
Ohio, as you no doubt recall from elementary school, claims eight U.S. presidents – more than any state except Virginia, which also claims eight. (Point of contention: Ohio and Virginia both claim William Henry Harrison, who was born in Virginia but spent his adult life in Ohio.)
Steve George, a senior advisor at the Ohio History Connection, has long believed Ohio should better integrate and promote its presidential sites. The new Ohio Presidential Trail is a start, he said.
The task is complicated by the fact that the sites are owned and operated by different entities, including the federal government, state government, community groups and others.
George and his colleagues are working on a series of brochures that will highlight specific Ohio presidents, but also promote other presidential sites throughout the state. Visitors to the James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, for example, may not realize that Rutherford B. Hayes’ elegant estate is just two hours away in Fremont.
“It’s a very popular itinerary, visiting presidential sites,” said George. “By studying U.S. presidents, you learn a lot about American history writ large.”
Stops on the new Ohio Presidential Trail include:
Thomas Ondrey/The Plain Dealer
James A. Garfield National Historic Site, Mentor
Twentieth U.S. President James Garfield conducted his 1880 presidential campaign from this front porch. Reporters dubbed the property “Lawnfield.” About 80 percent of the home’s furnishings are original to the Garfield family.
Susan Glaser/The Plain Dealer
James A. Garfield Birthplace, Moreland Hills
Garfield was born in 1831 in a log cabin in what was then Orange Township (modern day Moreland Hills). The cabin, 20 feet by 30 feet, was recreated in 1999.
Plain Dealer file photo
Garfield met his wife, Lucretia, at Hiram, then called the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute. Garfield later served as president of the school. Hiram offers several sites of interest, including Koritansky Hall, a former church (moved from nearby Mecca), where Garfield once preached; and the Garfield Robbins Zimmerman Home, owned by the Garfields in the late 19th century.
Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer
Assassinated in 1881, Garfield, along with his wife, is entombed in the elaborate Garfield Memorial on the grounds of Lake View Cemetery. The 180-foot-tall monument, dedicated in 1890, is built of Ohio sandstone, with interior panels showing Garfield as a teacher, orator and president.
The "partners' desk" used by William McKinley at the White House, displayed inside the William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum in Canton. (Thomas Ondrey/The Plain Dealer)
William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum and McKinley Memorial, Canton
Unfortunately, both McKinley’s birthplace home in Niles and the house where he in lived in Canton are long gone. In Canton, you can visit the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum, home to the largest collection of McKinley artifacts in the world, including the nightshirt he wore when he was shot in Buffalo. Next to the museum is the stately McKinley Memorial, a 96-foot-high domed mausoleum, dedicated in 1907. It is the final resting place for McKinley and his wife, Ida Saxton McKinley.
Susan Glaser, The Plain Dealer
National McKinley Birthplace Memorial Museum and Library
In Niles, the McKinley Birthplace Museum features a gallery of McKinley memorabilia from his years in office and before.
Susan Glaser/The Plain Dealer
McKinley Birthplace Home, Niles
Down the street from the birthplace museum is a recreated McKinley Birthplace Home, built in 2003 on the site of his first residence, which burned down in the 1930s.
Front entry hallway of the Saxton McKinley Home in Canton. (Thomas Ondrey/The Plain Dealer)
First Ladies’ National Historic Site, Canton
To learn more about the women behind the men in the White House, visit the First Ladies National Historic Site, which opened in 1998. Visitors can tour the childhood home of Ida Saxton McKinley, the wife of 25th President William McKinley. This was also the primary home of Ida and William McKinley during McKinley’s years in Congress. The First Ladies site includes the Education and Research Center in a nearby building, which hosts rotating exhibits.
Susan Glaser, The Plain Dealer
Warren G. Harding Home & Memorial
The Harding Home in Marion was inhabited by Warren and Florence Harding from 1891 through 1921, when they moved to the White House. It’s been open to the public since 1926 and includes thousands of original family artifacts. NOTE: The Harding Home is currently closed for renovations, expected to reopen in 2020, along with a new Harding Presidential Center.
Nearby: The Harding Memorial, dedicated in 1931, the burial site of the president and first lady.
Painting of President Hayes and daughter Fanny in the home of President Rutherford B. Hayes in Fremont. (Thomas Ondrey/The Plain Dealer)
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums
Hayes, the nation's 19th president, moved into this house in 1873, several years before he was elected president. Originally just eight rooms, the home was expanded by Hayes twice, in 1880 and 1889. Hayes called the it Spiegel Grove, after the reflecting puddles that formed on the property (spiegel, in German, means mirror). Both Hayes and his wife are buried on the property.
The adjacent museum features a detailed look at Hayes - Civil War general, U.S. Congressman, Ohio governor – and the times in which he lived.
Susan Glaser, The Plain Dealer
Ulysses S. Grant Birthplace, Point Pleasant
Eighteenth President Ulysses S. Grant was born and lived his first year in this one-room cottage, steps from the Ohio River in Clermont County, before moving about 25 miles away to Georgetown.
Susan Glaser, The Plain Dealer
Ulysses S. Grant Boyhood Home and Schoolhouse, Georgetown
Grant lived in Georgetown longer than anywhere else in his life. Visitors can tour his two-story boyhood home, which includes original family furnishings. Nearby is the two-room schoolhouse where Grant received his early education.
An animatronic Charlie Taft, the youngest son of 27th President William Howard Taft, talks about his famous family at the William Howard Taft National Historic Site in Cincinnati. (Susan Glaser, The Plain Dealer)
William Howard Taft National Historic Site, Cincinnati
The William Howard Taft National Historic Site includes the home where Taft was born and spent his first 18 years. The two-story brick house, in Cincinnati’s wealthy Mount Auburn neighborhood, has been restored to the way it looked in 1865, the year the Civil War ended, when Taft was 8. Five restored rooms on the first floor of the home are shown by guided tour. Rooms on the second floor contain exhibits and artifacts that shed light on Taft's years of public service.
The tomb of ninth president William Henry Harrison sits on a bluff overlooking the Ohio River in North Bend, Ohio. (Susan Glaser, The Plain Dealer)
William Henry Harrison Tomb, North Bend
The Harrison Tomb, 60 feet tall and made out of limestone, rises from a bluff overlooking the Ohio River, and contains the remains of ninth President William Henry Harrison, his wife, son and several family members. His grandson, 23rd President Benjamin Harrison, who was born and raised in North Bend, is buried in Indianapolis. A historical marker at the corner of Symmes and Washington avenues marks the site of Benjamin Harrison’s boyhood home.
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