The weather was perfect as we made the 12-mile jaunt from the motel to downtown Niles, Ohio. My chauffeur’s GPS took us right to the site – the National McKinley Birthplace Memorial. As soon as I was pulled from my protective case, I couldn’t believe my painted resin eyes. I had expected to see a house, but instead a huge, dirty-white marble monstrosity stood directly in front of me. I could see numerous columns throughout the structure and there was a statue of McKinley situated inside the memorial; but no house. All I could do was shake my head – but then again, that’s what bobble heads do.
We strolled around the memorial for some time; and at one point we discovered that McKinley’s birth site was actually located about two blocks down Main Street. I was placed back into the camera bag and I was carried the short distance to the birthplace. Once there, I was thrilled to see there was a house next to a historical plaque that stated: William McKinley birthplace. It turned out that the wooden two-story grey house was not the authentic birth home, but was a reconstructed version that sat on the original site. The original Colonial-style home that McKinley was born in stood on that site until a few years before he was assassinated. Due to the fact that it sat on prime real estate in downtown Niles, the house was dismantled and moved. It had been moved a couple of times, turned into a museum, then the original birthplace home was destroyed by fire in 1937.
It was 10:30am and time to leave one Ohio Presidential birthplace and head for another. The 46-mile drive along the back roads took about an hour; but even with our GPS, we initially drove past the site in Moreland Hills. A building and some trees at the Village Hall property helped hide the birthplace cabin of James A. Garfield; however, as we drove past we saw the historical marker and doubled back. Once on the property, I was carried along a dirt pathway and up to the log cabin that turned out to be a replica of the original Garfield birthplace. Near that cabin we saw a bronze statue of a youthful James Garfield.
Our stay at the Garfield birth site lasted roughly 40 minutes; at which time we left James’ first home and headed for his last private home – Lawnfield. With the temperature hitting the low 90s, we arrived in Mentor, Ohio and easily found the home of our 20th President; one that he originally called his “Mentor Farm”. We had planned on purchasing a ticket to tour the main house; that is until we were told that photography of the interior was prohibited. I was very disappointed in the decision to boycott the tour; but I was more disappointed that photographs were banned. I bet there were postcards for sale in the gift shop that featured the interior of Lawnfield. Sad thing for me was the fact that I stayed awake last night and envisioned myself standing on Garfield’s bed. Wait a minute – I stay awake every night; but that’s besides the point!
Lawnfield appeared to be an immaculate and impressive home; once again, I was so disappointed at the decision to not go inside. Perhaps I will get the chance to return to this site in the future and maybe then the rules will soften. At one point, however, I was carried up onto the porch and I looked through one of the windows. It was at that moment I figured someone would call me a ‘Peeping Tom’; which meant we needed to get off the porch and head to the museum. Located some one hundred yards or so behind Lawnfield was a museum dedicated to the life and times of James Garfield. The museum was amazing and it featured a lot of authentic Garfield artifacts; including the Bible that he was sworn-in on as President, the hat he was wearing when he was shot, and a life-like exhibit of the President on his deathbed. All of the good stuff was behind glass; likely to keep bobble heads like me from standing on them. For some unknown reason, however, I was not photographed near any of the artifacts; that may have been because my photographer was yelled at for taking flash pictures during the first twenty minutes we were there. Go figure; it’s not like him, or me, to ‘bend’ any rules. Even without me in any of the following photos, I wanted to share a few of the cool ones from inside the museum. I really need to come back to this place at some point!
It was late in the afternoon on Tuesday July 16, 2013 and it was time to find a motel in the vicinity. We had chosen to stay the night in Mentor as the last stop of our trip, before we returned home to Michigan, was on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio; which was only 20 miles away. Once we made it to our room at the Holiday Inn, I took my position for the night next to the TV where I could watch for anything that went bump in the night. The only thing I saw of interest was when my photographer stubbed his toe as he headed for the bathroom at about 3:00am. If I could’ve laughed, it would have been then! All throughout the night I thought about James Garfield; from his humble beginnings to his rise to the highest position on the face of the earth. I also couldn’t get the image of him lying on his deathbed; shot by a lunatic because the President didn’t offer him a job. I was anxious, and nervous at the same time, as the next day we would visit the tomb of James Garfield.
