Saturday, May 18, 2013
On a trip to a furniture store in Mentor, OH, we decided to visit the Garfield National Historic Site. To be specific (in case you were thinking of a cat), the
James A Garfield National Historic Site.
James Garfield was the 20th President of the United States and this site was his home from 1876 until his death (he was assassinated in 1881).
It seems that it was reporters who named the homestead "Lawnfield" and it was here that Garfield set a precedent with his "front porch campaign."
In a time when presidential candidates remained in the background during the election process, Garfield greeted visitors and supporters from his front porch and spoke on issues of the day. A small building on the grounds, once a library, was converted into the campaign headquarters:
We had a guided tour inside the 20-room house. Stained glass windows in the dining room:
There was fantastic reproduction wallpaper throughout, even on ceilings.
Original gas lamps have been converted to electric:
After Garfield's death, the American public showered the family with monetary contributions. Mrs. Lucretia Garfield used the money to add a wing on the house for the Memorial Library:
She had his books and papers (now in the Library of Congress) displayed here, and as such this was the first "Presidential Library."
Also on display was Garfield's desk when he served in the U. S. House of Representatives (9 terms!):
The desk seems impossibly tiny and the chair too spindly for a 200-pound man.
Of interest was the daughter's bedroom, with its Turkish corner:
Turkish or Moorish corners were all the rage for teenage girls in the 1800s.
Mrs. Garfield had a windmill built to pump and store water:
Also a gas house:
A carriage house:
A chicken coop:
And she relocated the 1877 horse barn:
Garfield is not one of the well-known presidents, but as the last of the "born in a log cabin" presidents and one with a long and varied career, he deserves more attention.
It was a gorgeous day:
Sunday, May 19, 2913
Between lunch in Little Italy and the Hessler Street Fair, we passed the Cozad-Bates House:
The original section of this house, built circa 1853, is the only pre-Civil War structure left in the University Circle neighborhood. The side that we see was built in 1872, and is a rare example of Italianate-influenced residential architecture. It has a hipped roof, paired eave brackets, curved bay windows and a prominent be
lvedere (a loggia or open gallery, ie., porch, with a view of a great lawn). The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and designated as a Cleveland Landmark in 2006. It is under restoration. The Cozad family were abolitionists and the house may have been involved in the Underground Railroad.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Headlands Beach State Park:
The largest beach in Ohio.
Being a beach on a Great Lake, it is a gravelly beach:
Creative use of natural resources:
People were collecting things along the beach, even though there are no sea shells:
Here is one collector:
Kent looked for sea glass and wishing rocks:
Oh my gosh, they have wedding photography here, too!
A Stumpie:
Driftwood:
A natural driftwood pile:
An unnatural driftwood pile:
Looking out towards the west causeway of Fairport Harbor:
The former Fairport Harbor West Lighthouse:
Asian posing:
(Legs need a tan!)
Larus delawarensis/Ring-billed Gulls fight over a fish:
The three gulls wouldn't cooperate for a photo:
Who me?
Deer track:
The closer you got to the former lighthouse, the uglier it became:
A private owner is trying to renovate it into a summer house, despite no electricity or running water!
Fairport Harbor, sailboat in:
Kayakers out:
This end of the beach was full of fish parts and webbed foot prints:
Calidris fuscicollis/White-rumped Sandpiper:
Using driftwood as exercise equipment:
In the Headlands Dunes Nature Preserve:
Asclepias syriaca/Common Milkweed:
Nepeta cataria/Catnip:
Daucus cartous/Queen Annes Lace:
A glimpse of Lake Erie from the Headlands Beach State Park parking lot:
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