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New York

Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site

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Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site

New York

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1944

645 acres

Website: nps.gov/hofr

Overview

In 1882, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was born at Springwood, his family’s estate on the Hudson River in Hyde Park, New York.  In 1905, FDR married his distant cousin Eleanor and moved into the mansion with his mother.  FDR contracted polio in 1921 and was paralyzed from the waist down, so some changes were made to Springwood to make it more wheelchair accessible.  After FDR became President, noteworthy visitors to the house included England’s King George VI and Winston Churchill.  FDR was buried on the property in 1945 and Eleanor in 1962, in the rose garden alongside Fala, their famous Scottish terrier.  Exactly one year after his death, the mansion opened to the public.

Highlights

Springwood, FDR Presidential Library and Museum, Top Cottage, Hyde Park Trail

Must-Do Activity

Start your visit at the Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center where you can purchase tickets for the tour inside the mansion (reservations recommended), the 22-minute film A Rendezvous With History, the Presidential Library and Museum (not managed by the National Park Service), and Top Cottage, which is located behind the nearby Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site.  Tours meet inside the visitor center then walk a quarter-mile to the mansion.  Top Cottage was built in 1938 and is only accessible on a guided tour in the summer, which a park ranger discouraged us from going on saying it was mostly a seminar-style discussion of world politics (Top Cottage tours were closed through at least 2022). 

Best Trail

Hyde Park Trail connects Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site with Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site following the Hudson River.  The trail then heads two miles east towards Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site and Top Cottage.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Freedom From Fear is a sculpture of a man and woman made from a section of the Berlin Wall, installed here in 1994 with a companion piece at the Winston Churchill Memorial in Fulton, Missouri.  Both were created by Edwina Sandys, Churchill’s granddaughter.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/hofr/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

$10 per person for mansion tour or free with America the Beautiful pass; $10 per person for Top Cottage tour with $5 off for America the Beautiful pass; separate entry fee for FDR Presidential Library and Museum

Road Conditions

All roads are paved with ample parking.

Camping

Mills-Norrie State Park has 45 campsites about five miles north of Hyde Park on Highway 9.

Related Sites

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (District of Columbia)

Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site (New York)

Martin Van Buren National Historic Site (New York)

Floor inside the Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center
Inside the mansion’s foyer
Tomb
FDR Presidential Library and Museum
Tiff becoming a Junior Ranger
Raven about the park

Explore More – In what year was there an assassination attempt on FDR?

Kentucky

Camp Nelson National Monument

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Camp Nelson National Monument

Kentucky

Managed by National Park Service

Established 2018

525 acres

Website: nps.gov/cane

Overview

Camp Nelson National Monument occupies 525 acres where a Civil War fort was located 20 miles south of Lexington.  During the war, Kentucky was technically a Union state so the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 did not apply to the state’s slaves.  Many local slaves were impressed by the U.S. Army to build the camp and their owners were compensated for the work.  In May 1864, when freedom was offered to any black man to join the United States Colored Troops, thousands of escaped slaves brought their families (who were not granted freedom) to this supply depot, which led to numerous conflicts between refugees and Army officials. 

Highlights

Museum, film, Oliver Perry House, barracks, Fort Putnam, Fort Jones, Home for Colored Refugees Site

Must-Do Activity

Unlike many new National Monuments, this one was already developed as the Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park so it has a historical museum, hiking trails, and interpretive film (that made our Top 10 list for NPS films).  The Oliver Perry House is the only original structure on site, although a barracks building and the earthworks of Fort Putnam have been reconstructed.  A living history weekend is typically held during the summer in the park, which is adjacent to Camp Nelson National Cemetery (see photos below) where hundreds of Civil War soldiers are buried.

Best Trail

There are four miles of trails in Fort Nelson National Monument with numerous interpretive signs and flags placed to identify the former locations of the bakery, prison, stables, Quartermaster Office, and other structures.  The Fort Jones/Overlook Trail accesses extensive stone revetment walls that provided defenses for the eastern side of Camp Nelson.  There is little shade in this grassy landscape, so come prepared on hot summer afternoons.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Built in 1846, the Oliver Perry House (also called the White House) is the only remaining original structure on site, which served as officers’ quarters.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/cane/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

There is no campground on site, but there are some nice ones found throughout the Kentucky state parks system and Daniel Boone National Forest (where we recommend Cave Run Lake).

Related Sites

Daniel Boone National Forest (Kentucky)

Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument (Kentucky)

Mammoth Cave National Park (Kentucky)

The White House
Inside the White House
Home for Colored Refugees Site
Camp Nelson National Cemetery
Camp Nelson National Cemetery

Explore More – When was Army policy changed at Camp Nelson to allow the families of United States Colored Troops to have a mess hall, school, and housing?

Pennsylvania

Grey Towers National Historic Site

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Grey Towers National Historic Site

Pennsylvania

Managed by U.S. Forest Service

102 acres

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/greytowers

Overview

The sole National Historic Site managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Grey Towers was the ancestral home of Gifford Pinchot, the agency’s first director and the twice-elected governor of Pennsylvania.  Completed in 1886, the 43-room, L-shaped mansion was built to look like a French château.  After Gifford’s father endowed the nation’s first graduate forestry program at Yale, their summer school was held on the property from 1901 to 1926.

Highlights

Mansion tour, Letter Box, Bait Box, Finger Bowl, Pinchot Timeline Trail

Must-Do Activity

We had just visited the three National Park Service sites in Hyde Park, New York before we stumbled upon this spot while driving to Steamtown National Historic Site, so we opted not to take another guided tour (fee) inside a mansion.  It was a beautiful September day, so instead we enjoyed an hour walking around and photographing the property while stopping to read the numerous interpretive signs.  Our favorite cottage was the Bait Box, a playhouse for Gifford’s son.

Best Trail

There are self-guided interpretive trails around the 102-acre property, including the Pinchot Timeline Trail and Forestry Trail.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The Finger Bowl was a unique outdoor dining area where chairs were pulled up to the edge of a pool that had bowls of food floating on its surface.  It sits beneath a beautiful, wisteria-covered arbor.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

The grounds are open daily 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. from Memorial Day weekend through October and the gates are locked at 4:30 p.m. the rest of the year.  Guided tours (fee) of the home and gardens start every hour on the hour starting at 11 a.m. Thursday through Monday in the summer.

Fees

There is no fee to walk the grounds, but it costs $8 per person to take the tour (50% off with America the Beautiful pass).

Road Conditions

The road to Grey Towers is paved and there is limited handicap parking located much closer to the house than the main parking lot.

Camping

See our blog post on Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area for a list of State Parks and State Forests with campgrounds in the area.

Related Sites

Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River (New York-Pennsylvania)

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site (Pennsylvania)

Steamtown National Historic Site (Pennsylvania)

Nearest National Park

Shenandoah (Virginia)

A peak inside a window
Tiff walking around Grey Towers
Gifford Pinchot
Arbor above the Finger Bowl
Tiff at the Bait Box
Overlook near the parking lot

Explore More – Gifford’s father regretted the environmental damage done by which industry where he made his fortune?

Florida

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

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Overview

The Timucuan Indians inhabited northeastern Florida’s coastal wetlands and maritime hammocks when French colonists first arrived in 1562.  The settlers constructed Fort Caroline (a National Memorial established in 1950), which the National Park Service (NPS) administers as a unit of Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve (established in 1988).  Start your visit at the NPS museum at Fort Caroline National Memorial, which provides information on the indigenous Timucuan, as well as the European colonization efforts.  Then you can tour a one-third scale reconstruction of the triangular Fort Caroline based upon a drawing from 1564 by French artist Jacques le Moyne.

Highlights

Fort Caroline, Kingsley Plantation, Theodore Roosevelt Area

Must-Do Activity

The second place the NPS manages a visitor center is at Kingsley Plantation on Fort George Island east of Jacksonville, Florida.  Established in 1798, it is the oldest remaining plantation house in Florida.  Slaves here harvested Sea Island cotton, which is still grown in a small garden alongside indigo, another regional cash crop.  Visitors can take a self-guided trail around the property, but tours inside the main plantation house are only offered on weekends and require a reservation.

Best Trail

The 1.5-mile Willie Browne Trail winds through the 600 undeveloped acres at Theodore Roosevelt Area, donated by the trail’s namesake to the Nature Conservancy in 1969.  The Spanish Pond Trail connects this trail with Fort Caroline National Memorial.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The tabby walls of 23 of the original 32 slave quarters still stand in a row at Kingsley Plantation. 

Peak Season

Winter

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/timu/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All major roads are paved, but the fastest route between Fort Caroline and Kingsley Plantation is probably via the St. Johns River Ferry.

Camping

The NPS does not have a campground, but nearby Little Talbot Island State Park, Huguenot Memorial Park, and Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park all do.

Related Sites

Fort Caroline National Memorial (Florida)

Fort Matanzas National Monument (Florida)

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument (Florida)

Inside the Fort Caroline National Monument visitor center
Fort Caroline
Scott at the Kingsley Plantation House
Tiff with a gnarly eastern redcedar tree
Cotton ball with insects
Indigo plant
Swallow

Explore More – Florida had “relatively liberal” racial policies under Spanish rule, but that changed when it became a U.S. territory in what year?

Mississippi

Natchez National Historical Park

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Natchez National Historical Park

Mississippi

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1988

108 acres

Website: nps.gov/natc

Overview

Authorized in 1988, Natchez National Historical Park occupies 108 acres in the riverside town of Natchez, Mississippi.  The town started as Fort Rosalie, a French trading post built on the Mississippi River in the early 1700s, now the site of the Visitor Reception Center.  National Park Service (NPS) rangers or volunteers are always on location at the William Johnson House and Melrose Estate.  A newer part of the park is located at the Forks of the Road where interpretive signs discuss its role as a major slave trading market from 1833 to 1863.

Highlights

Melrose Estate, William Johnson House, Fort Rosalie, Forks of the Road

Must-Do Activity

The museum in the William Johnson House tells the story of a slave freed at age 11 by his owner, also named William Johnson and presumed to be his father.  The boy apprenticed to a barber, eventually becoming a successful businessman and slave owner himself.  A diary he kept for 16 years provides insight into antebellum Natchez, including the May 7, 1840 tornado that destroyed downtown, which had about 5,000 inhabitants at the time.  Inside the NPS museum you will learn the strange story of William Johnson’s murder in 1851 that ended in three mistrials. Although it is not part of the NPS unit, we also recommend a stop at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians State Historic Site for its free museum, film, historic mounds, and air conditioning (which is important in the humid summer).

Best Trail

Naturally, Natchez is one terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway, which also preserves its share of history starting at the Elizabeth Female Academy Site (Milepost 5.1) just outside town.  There are a few portions of the Old Trace that you can still follow along on the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The Melrose Estate recalls the antebellum period when slaves grew cotton in the rich soil of the Mississippi River floodplains.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/natc/planyourvisit/hours.htm

The NPS museum at the William Johnson House is closed daily for lunch.

Fees

None for Fort Rosalie, William Johnson House, and Melrose Estate grounds, but $10 per person for mansion interior tours (no discount for America the Beautiful pass)

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

Rocky Springs is the furthest south campground managed by the NPS on the Natchez Trace Parkway (Milepost 54.8) and it has no fees for camping.

Related Sites

Vicksburg National Military Park (Mississippi)

Cane River Creole National Historical Park (Louisiana)

Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (Mississippi-Alabama-Tennessee)

Natchez Trace Parkway (Mississippi-Alabama-Tennessee)

Nearest National Park

Hot Springs

View of the Mississippi River
Scott at the William Johnson House
Excerpts from William Johnson’s diary
Tiff inside the William Johnson House in 2016
Melrose Estate
The Great Sun’s Mound at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians
The museum at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians

Explore More – In 1839 a fire burned through Natchez destroying the William Johnson House, but the family was living in the country at the time to avoid an epidemic of what disease?