Churches of the Presidents

 Churches have been the center pieces of many American communities since before our founding. It's often the biggest building in small towns, which makes them logical places to hold town meeting, set up voting booths, and various other parties and functions. All of this is of course secondary to their primary function as a house of worship, a place to gather with other believers, and to recharge your faith batteries. You know, Church stuff.

Traveling around the country seeing various Presidential sites I have stumbled upon afew churches with Presidential connections. Here they are.

United First Parish Church in Quincy, MA is the burial site of both John Adams and John Quincy Adams. John Quincy Adams was also a member.

This small church is on the property of The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home in Nashville, TN.

McKendree Methodist Church in Nashville, TN is the site of James K. Polk's funeral

    

First (now Downtown) Presbyterian Church in Nashville was the site of James K. Polk's Inaguaration as Governor of Tennessee. Andrew Jackson was also a member.

The front of First Presbyterian Church in Nashville

The Church of the Presidents in Long Branch, NJ has been attended by 7 different Presidents.It now seems to be under renovation.

As the sign says, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, B. Harrison, McKinley and Wilson all attended services here. President Garfield died just a few blocks away.

There was a very cold rain falling on me when this photo was taken. So dispite the look on my face I was happy to of found it.

Grover Cleveland was born in Caldwell, NJ at a house owned by the local church. The house was reserved for the minister and his family to live in. Grovers father was the minister which explains why Grover was born there. The church is no longer standing, but this is the church that sites on the site of Clevelands fathers church.

President McKinley's church in Canton, OH

President McKinley's church in Canton, OH

Historical marker in front of Theodore Roosevelts boyhood church in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York

Boyhood Church of Theodore Roosevelt. Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York

Calvin Coolidges church in Plymouth, VT

The Coolidges pew is marked by the flag

Quacker meeting house in West Branch, Iowa that Herbert Hoover attended as a child

Inside Hoovers Quacker Meeting House

The small chapel in Abilene, Kansas in which the Eisenhowers are buried.

Plains Baptist Church in Plains, GA is the church in which Jimmy Carter was Baptized. He attended here until 1977 when there was a conflict with the pastor about a black man not being allowed to speak there. That's when he changed churches

Maranatha Baptist Church. Plains, GA.Current church of President Carter. He teaches Sunday School here. I got to attend a class in June 2013

Miss Jan goes through the ins and outs of how to conduct yourself around the former President.

President Carter about to teach Sunday School

Tampico, IL. Ronald Reagan grew up with a Catholic Father and a Protestant Mother. This is the church that he would attend with his Mother.

This is the Catholic church that Ronald Reagan attended with his father in Tampico, IL

This is the First Christian Church in Dixon, IL in which Ronald Reagan was baptized at age 11

 

Front of the First Christian Church in Dixon, IL

St. Martins church in Houston, TX is the current church of former President George H. W. Bush

Courtyard at St. Martins in Houston

Wright Patterson Air Force Base and Museum

Wright Patterson Air Force Base and Museum is in Dayton, Ohio, the hometown of the Wright Brothers. They have a very cool museum of aircraft from the early days of the Wright Brothers to Space craft and everything inbetween. I have come to learn that in the Sci Fi fan circles, it is believed that after aliens crashed in Rosewell, New Mexico back in the 1940's, that the reckage and alien bodies were brought to Hanger 18 at Wright - Patt. I also heard that when Arizona Senator and Presidential Canidate Barry Goldwater visited Wright - Patt, he asked if he could see the reckage in Hanger 18. He was firmly told that not only can he not see Hanger 18, but that he had better never meantion it again. Nothing I saw could either confirm or deny any of this. The reason that made the site post worthy on this Presidents sites blog is that they have the best collection of Presidential aircraft that I am aware of.

I have been there a few times in my life, since it is less then 2 hours away. But it has been about 2 years since I was last there. The Museum is free, but if you want to see the Presidents planes, then you may want to get there early so that you can guarantee a bus ticket to the hanger that houses all of the Presidents planes.

The 'Sacred Cow'. Both FDR and Truman used this plane. It's the plane that flew FDR to the Yalta conference.

'The Independence' was the plane used by Harry Truman. Named for his home town on Independence, MO

The 'Columbine III' used by Dwight Eisenhower. Named for the Columbine flower, official flower of the state of Colorado, homestate of Eisenhowers wife Mamie.

This smaller plane was also used by Eisenhower

President transporting Helicopter



An interesting one. During the time when Science fiction was gaining popularity, the Air Force wondered if a flying saucer was a practicle flight design. So they made this flying saucer aircraft to test. They couldn't get it to fly more then a couple of feet off of the ground.



This smaller Air Force One was used by Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan



This is the main reason that you would want to come to this Presidents plane hanger. This Air Force One was used by every President from Kennedy to Clinton. It is the plane that flew Kennedy to Dallas when he was assassinated. After the assassination it flew Kennedys body back to Washington, and it was on this plane that Lyndon Johnson was sworn into office.



My kids Khloe and Nicky with me in front of Air Force One

Me in the area of the plane in which Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office and became the 36th President of the United States

Pretty tight quarters

This is back in the main museum area once we got back from the Presidents planes hanger. To me, this is another must see. It's the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, ending WW2

A replica of the bomb that the Bockscar dropped on Nagasaki.

Me in front of the Bockscar. It is hard to grasp the significance of this bomber in history

A display that includes Ronald Reagans over coat and Air Force ID





They also have a Holocaust Museum display. Very heart breaking

This wooden cross was the original gravemarker for the grave of Quentin Roosevelt, youngest son of Theodore Roosevelt, who was a fighter pilot killed in WW1.

Elsewhere in Dayton in Woodland Cemetery. The final resting place for both namesakes of the Wright Patterson Air Force Base. This is the gravesite of the Wright Brothers.

In 1918 a young test pilot named Frank Patterson was killed at Wright Air Force Base in a plane crash. In his honor the Base was changed to Wright Patterson Air Force Base. This is his and his families gravesite.

So if your passing through Ohio. Maybe hitting some of the Presidential sites in the Cincinatti area. Keep in mind Wright Patterson, if time permits, you won't be dissappointed.