Tag Archives: Presidential

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

September 2, 2026 Raven About The Parks 2 Comments

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

Kentucky

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1916 National Park, 1939 National Historical Park, 1959 National Historic Site, 2009 National Historical Park

345 acres

Website: nps.gov/abli

Overview

In December 1808, Thomas and Nancy Lincoln moved with their infant daughter to a 300-acre farm near Sinking Spring, where soon their son Abraham would be born on February 12. Two years later they moved to a more fertile farm ten miles northeast on Knob Creek. The family left for Indiana five years after that, where today you can find Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. The original birthplace cabin was dismantled before 1865, but a cabin built nearby using some of the Lincoln logs was purchased three decades later for the purpose of exhibiting a traveling replica. When that replica cabin was placed inside the Memorial Building in 1911, it was too large for tourists to walk around it, so it was decreased in scale from 16-by-18 feet to 12-by-17 feet. In 2001, the National Park Service acquired the privately-owned boyhood home reconstruction at Knob Creek Farm, leading to the redesignation back to a National Historical Park.

Highlights

Memorial Building, film, Knob Creek Farm, Overlook Trail

Must-Do Activity

The future U.S. President came from humble beginnings, and here in Kentucky is where his education began. Even if you are familiar with his life story, it is a good idea to watch the film at the visitor center before climbing the stairs to the scale model of the birth cabin inside the Memorial Building. A ten-mile drive takes you to the reconstructed Lincoln house at Knob Creek Farm, where you can hike the Overlook Trail if you have time.

Best Trail

Boundary Oak Trail is 0.3 miles and starts near the Memorial Building, while 0.7-mile Big Sink Trail starts from the picnic area on the other side of Highway 31E. At Knob Creek Farm, Overlook Trail is 3.1 miles out-and-back with 348 feet of cumulative elevation gain.

Photographic Opportunity

Exactly a century after Abraham’s birthday, President Theodore Roosevelt was on hand for the laying of the cornerstone for a Memorial Building where the Lincoln family cabin once stood.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Outside Hodgenville, all roads are paved to the Birthplace Unit of the park and the Boyhood Home Unit at Knob Creek, which is ten miles northeast on U.S. Highway 31E.

Camping

Located 25 miles northeast on Highway 31E, My Old Kentucky Home State Park has a 39-site campground with RV hookups, plus an 18-hole golf course.

Lincoln Home National Historic Site (Illinois)

Lincoln Memorial (District of Columbia)

Nearest National Park

Mammoth Cave

Explore More – Why are their exactly 16 steps in each of the four sets of stairs that lead up to Lincoln’s birth cabin Memorial Building?

Ohio

William Howard Taft National Historic Site

July 29, 2026 Raven About The Parks 3 Comments

William Howard Taft National Historic Site

Ohio

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1969

3 acres

Website: nps.gov/wiho

Overview

William Howard Taft was the nation’s 27th President and 10th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the only person to hold both positions in U.S. history. Taft was born on September 15, 1857, in this house in Cincinnati, the city where he attended law school after graduating from Yale (where he later served as a professor). Taft was promised a Supreme Court nomination by President William McKinley when he sailed for the Philippines in April 1900 where he would stay as Civil Governor until December 1903. After McKinley’s assassination, he would have to wait for his Supreme Court seat until 1921. His mother sold the Cincinnati house in 1899 and it was structurally altered and turned into apartments, so the National Park Service completed extensive restorations. Taft’s son Robert Alphonso Taft served as a U.S. Senator representing Ohio, and his father had been Secretary of War and U.S. Attorney General.

Highlights

Guided tour of restored mansion, museum, film

Must-Do Activity

Visitors can park at the Taft Education Center next to the house where there are museum exhibits, a bookstore, and a film screening room. Guided tours that last 30 minutes are the only way inside the house, a Greek Revival design that is decorated with Victorian-era furnishings.

Best Trail

None

Photographic Opportunity

The museum has an audio-animatronic figure of Taft’s son Charles Phelps Taft II wearing fishing gear and telling stories about members of the Taft family.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Free paved parking is available at this site that is easily accessible from Interstate 71.

Camping

North of Cincinnati, Hueston Woods State Park offers 490 campsites, 59 cabins, and a lodge. The scenic Hocking Hills State Park has 172 campsites (reservations recommended) and is one of the most popular places to camp in Ohio.

Related Sites

James A. Garfield National Historic Site (Ohio)

Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument (Ohio)

Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park (Ohio)

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park (Ohio)

Nearest National Park

Mammoth Cave

Explore More – What was William Howard Taft’s position in Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidential Cabinet?

Massachusetts

John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site

October 15, 2025 Raven About The Parks 1 Comment

John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site

Massachusetts

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1967

0.09 acre

Website: nps.gov/jofi

Overview

The Coolidge Corner neighborhood of Brookline (a suburb of Boston) contains the birthplace of John F. Kennedy (JFK), the 35th U.S. President and one of four born in Norfolk County. The house was purchased by Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr. in 1914 before his marriage to Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald. Rose gave birth to John and his two sisters in the house’s upstairs bedroom before the expanding Irish Catholic family moved a few blocks away in 1920. Following JFK’s assassination, the family repurchased the home and Rose restored it to its 1917 appearance then donated it to the National Park Service (NPS).

Highlights

Tour, film

Must-Do Activity

The entrance to the NPS site is through the back door into the basement where a film is shown. On a free, 30-minute guided house tour, rangers show the room where JFK was born and the nursery containing a bassinet that held each of the nine Kennedy children. About 19% of the furnishings in the home belonged to the family. Self-guided tours inside the house are allowed during the lunch hour and the closing hour of the day with free audio wands available in a variety of languages. The third story where the servants lived is off limits to visitors. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is located about nine miles away.

Best Trail

You can walk around the neighborhood on your own or reserve a spot on a free 90-minute ranger-guided tour of Boston’s North End (beginning at 2:15 Thursday through Sunday), which includes a stop outside Rose Kennedy’s birthplace home.

Photographic Opportunity

You can drive by the Florida Ruffin Ridley School (formerly known as the Coolidge Corner School and the Edward M. Devotion School) that JFK attended.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

The house is located at 83 Beals Street and there is free, two-hour parking available on the street in front of neighbors’ houses. You can also take the train to Coolidge Corner and walk four blocks north up Harvard Street.

Camping

There is camping in Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area and outside the city at the famous Walden Pond.

Related Sites

Adams National Historical Park (Massachusetts)

Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site (Massachusetts)

Boston National Historical Park (Massachusetts)

Nearest National Park

Acadia

Explore More – Why did gangster Whitey Bulger toss a Molotov cocktail into the house on September 8, 1975?

Georgia

Jimmy Carter National Historical Park

August 27, 2025 Raven About The Parks 4 Comments

Jimmy Carter National Historical Park

Georgia

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1987 National Historic Site, 2021 National Historical Park

71 acres

Website: nps.gov/jica

Overview

Jimmy Carter was the 39th U.S. President (1977-1981) and the first to reach the age of 100 before he passed away on December 29, 2024. Following his presidency, he and his wife (Rosalynn) returned to their hometown of Plains and cemented their legacy as diplomats and humanitarians, mostly through their work with the Carter Center in Atlanta (he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002). Up until the end, Jimmy Carter taught Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church, which is open to the public. The National Historical Park encompasses Jimmy’s boyhood farm, high school, and the old Plains railroad depot. It also includes his residence since 1961, which continues to be closed but will eventually be turned into a museum by the National Park Service (NPS). In July 2025, the Carter Gardens and Burial Site of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter opened to the public.

Highlights

Plains High School, film, train depot, boyhood farm, burial site, Carter Gardens

Must-Do Activity

The best place to start a visit is the NPS visitor center and museum in the former Plains High School, which is full of artifacts and information on the Carters. Next, drive or walk to the main street, where the train depot that shut down in 1951 was turned into Jimmy’s presidential campaign headquarters. While downtown, check out the shops for souvenirs and try some boiled peanuts or soft-serve peanut-flavored ice cream. There are several other sites of interest around Plains, including the boyhood home, burial site, Carter Gardens, Maranatha Baptist Church, and peanut statue (see Photographic Opportunity).

Best Trail

A half-mile trail winds through the boyhood farm where Jimmy lived starting at age four. Farm animals and seasonal crops are raised here, including peanuts. You can take a self-guided tour through his boyhood home, which was restored to its appearance before electricity was installed in 1938.

Photographic Opportunity

While not part of the official National Historical Park, when you drive up Buena Vista Road to see Maranatha Baptist Church, you pass the 13-foot-tall Jimmy Carter peanut statue built during the 1976 presidential election to support the former peanut farmer.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Paved parking is available at the high school, train depot, and boyhood farm (located about three miles west of town).

Camping

About 30 miles away in each direction are campgrounds at Georgia Veterans State Park and Providence Canyon State Park (which is featured on a U-Haul super graphic).

Cumberland Island National Seashore (Georgia)

Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park (Georgia)

Nearest National Park

Great Smoky Mountains

Explore More – According to an urban legend, why was a hole cut in the back of the Jimmy Carter peanut statue by the U.S. Secret Service?

District of Columbia

Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial

August 14, 2025 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial

District of Columbia

Managed by National Park Service

Established 2020

4 acres

Website: nps.gov/ddem

Overview

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and the 34th U.S. President (1953 to 1961). His presidential library is located in his hometown of Abilene, Kansas and his post-presidency home on a Pennsylvania farm is run by the National Park Service adjacent to Gettysburg National Military Park. The U.S. Congress created a Memorial Commission in 1999, but the groundbreaking did not occur until 18 years later. The dedication ceremony was scheduled for the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, but postponed to September 17 because of the pandemic.

Highlights

Sculptures, steel tapestry, audio tour, gift shop

Must-Do Activity

Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial is located one block off the National Mall in a plaza on Independence Avenue SW across from the National Air and Space Museum. It was designed by architect Frank Gehry and went through several iterations before settling on three bronze sculptures by Sergey Eylanbekov representing “Ike” as a boy, general, and president. The site is always open with a downloadable audio tour and a small gift shop open daily where you can pick up a “unigrid” pamphlet.

Best Trail

There is no trail here, but you can spend all day walking in D.C. through the National Mall and the nearby National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of the American Indian, and United States Botanic Garden.

Photographic Opportunity

The artist Tomas Osinski created a stainless-steel tapestry (447 feet long by 60 feet tall) out of 600 panels depicting a line drawing of the Pointe du Hoc promontory on France’s Normandy coastline, a site significant to the D-Day landings during World War II.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

The memorial is located on Independence Ave SW across from the National Air and Space Museum, which has parking garages nearby, or you can take the Metro into the city.

Camping

Greenbelt Park Campground in Maryland is the closest run by the National Park Service, which also manages campgrounds at Virginia’s Prince William Forest Park and Shenandoah National Park, as well as several in Maryland’s Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. Smallwood State Park and Cherry Hill Park in Maryland both offer RV sites and tent sites.

Related Sites

World War II Memorial (District of Columbia)

Eisenhower National Historic Site (Pennsylvania)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (District of Columbia)

Nearest National Park

Shenandoah