POTUS historical sites: 2014: Year in review

In comparison to the last few years 2014 was a pretty low-key year as far as my hobby of visiting historic sites go.

Starting out the year winter was rough and things were pretty busy at work which occupied most of my weekends. Then in March my Grandma who I was very close to passed away.

So by the time Spring rolled around I was itching to do some little day trips on the weekends to some places I've been before, some places I haven't, but just enough to feed the habit, so to speak.

In April one Saturday my kids and I visited the gravesite of Annie Oakley in Greenville, Ohio. Shewas a sharpshooter for the Buffalo Bill Wild West show and I remember my Grandpa talking about how he saw her when Buffalo Bills show came through the area when he was little boy.

On the same day we stopped in Sydney, Ohio at the county courthouse where I heard there is a historical marker pointing out that in 1912 both former President Theodore Roosevelt and President William Howard Taft both made speeches here at different times while each one campaigned for President

My kids standing in the footprints of Presidents.

I had been skimming through my President pages on this blog and saw what I was missing pictures of inside President Hayes library and museum in Fremont and so I made I point to revisit Fremont, also on this trip I found the Hayes family plot at a nearby cemetery in Fremont. this is where most of Hayes children are buried it's also where Hayes and his wife were originally buried before they were moved back to the house in the early 1900s, where they are buried today.

Hayes Speigel Grove home

Hayes gravesite

In Hayes museum

My son Nicky kept sneaking away to checking out the train set that belonged to one of Hayes sons

Hayes Inaugural Bible

On the Saturday before Mothers Day my wife was working and my kids were with my in laws for the weekend. For awhile I had tickets to take it a tour of Benjamin Harrison's house in Indianapolis for free and I thought this would be a good opportunity to redeem those. So my Mom and my Niece tagged along as we went and toured the house for the first time it was a really great two hour tour that I really enjoyed.

With Ben Harrison's Inaugural Bible

Ben Harrison's gravesite

While in Indianapolis I stopped by the site where in April 1968, Bobby Kennedy was at a planned campaign event in his effort to get the Democrat Nomination for President. Kennedy informed the crowd that Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot and killed in Memphis, TN that day. Kennedy urged the crowd to not react in violence. He is credited as the reason that Indianapolis didn't riot like many other cities. Bobby Kennedy himself was shot and killed just 2 months later. I thought this was a pretty cool monument they had there to honor the site.

June 19, 2014 marked 10 years of marriage for my wife and I. The only big trip we took in 2014 was sort of a Anniversary trip, just the 2 of us to Myrtle Beach. Luckily I was able to work in some sites on the way there and back

We stopped in Lexington, KY on the way down. Here I am revisiting the grave of James Buchanans VP John C. Breckinridge.

Also in Lexington is Henry Clays "Ashland" home

Before Myrtle Beach we spent a day in Charleston, SC. At the top of the "to see" list was Fort Sumter.

On the boat almost to Ft. Sumter.

Inside the Fort

After Ft. Sumter we walked around Charleston, visiting some shops, street markets and of course some old church cemeteries. Here is the gravesite of VP John C. Calhoun.

Gravesite of John Rutledge, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Since I was a kid I liked the 1980's mini series North and South. It's starts out about 2 West Point cadets in the 1840's. George Hazard from Pennsylvania and Orry Main from South Carolina. They quickly become best friends and naturally have ups and downs in the years leading up to the Civil War. In the series, the Hazards home in Lehigh Station, PA was filmed at the "Calhoun Mansion" (picture above) in Charleston.

The Mains home Mont Royal was filmed at Boone Hall Plantation outside of Charleston. Above is the dramatic Avenue of Oaks leading up to the house.

Boone Hall Plantation.

We had a great time at Myrtle Beach

On the way home we stopped in Columbia, SC at the Woodrow Wilson Family Home. It was cool to see since it just reopened after a 9 year renovation.

The bed in which Woodrow Wilson was born. On display in the Wilson Family home

We also hit a couple of President Birthplaces on the way home. Jackson and Polk. In the case of Jackson he has 2 States that claim him, so 2 markers to visit. Above is the South Carolina and below is the North Carolina marker.

Memorial marking Polks birthplace

One Saturday in July while my wife was working I packed up the kids and headed to Grand Rapids, MI. I wanted to revisit the Gerald Ford Museum and look up some other Ford related sites there.

Fords gravesite

Ford boyhood home

On the way home from Grand Rapids I stopped by South Bend to cross another VP grave off the list.

I took a day trip in August down to the Lincoln's Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City, Indiana. I hit a few spots along the way. Above is Hamilton High School in Hamilton, Ohio. Site where George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act. The site is commemorated with a series of statues including one of President Bush.

WH Harrison's Tomb in North Bend, Ohio

Ben Harrison's birthplace, also in North Bend.

Ben Harrison boyhood home site near North Bend

I picked up my President history enthusiast friend Roger Johnson in Cincinatti. It is always nice to have company on these trips who share this passion for travel. Above is the gravesite of Lincoln's mother at the boyhood site.

This is the bronzed foundation of one of Lincoln's cabins here.

A working farm similar to what it was like when the Lincoln's lived here

In October I revisited President Hayes birthplace on his birthday.

I also stopped by Harding's Birthplace on his birthday in November.

When I originally posted this post, this was the end of it. But I was able to get the last few days of the year off somewhat unexpectedly with extra vacation time and so on December 30, 2014 I made a day trip to Chicago one that I had been wanting to do for quite a while. Here are some highlights of the day.