Follow in the footsteps of Ohio’s 8 presidents

Tourism Ohio and the Ohio History Connection created the Ohio Presidential Trail with more than 20 destinations that showcase the state’s nationally significant history.

Here are Ohio’s 8 presidents and their major attractions:

The 20th president (1881) was the first presidential candidate to run a front porch campaign. He did so in 1880 from his farm in Mentor, about 25 miles northeast of Cleveland. Garfield greeted thousands of supporters and reporters at “Lawnfield,” where the rear of the property served as a temporary train stop for the campaign.

After being shot in Washington in July 1881, President Garfield died that September. First Lady Lucretia added a memorial library to the home between 1884 and 1886.

Operated by the National Park Service, the farm’s visitors center has video and exhibits. Guided tours of the Garfield home reveal mostly original furnishings. Visitors may also tour the grounds with cellphone-accessible commentary. Free. Open daily, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tour times vary seasonally.

President Garfield and Lucretia are entombed in an impressive hilltop mausoleum in Cleveland’s scenic Lake View Cemetery. With a circular 180-foot tower, the building was dedicated in 1890.

Five exterior panels with more than 100 life-size bas-relief figures detail President Garfield’s life and death. Inside, the president’s statue sits under a golden dome surrounded by red granite columns. Fourteen stained-glass windows represent each of the original colonies, plus Ohio. The balcony offers views of Lake Erie and the Cleveland skyline. Free.

Honor the 18th president (1869–1877) and Civil War general at the house where he was raised in Georgetown, about 42 miles southeast of Cincinnati.

Built in 1823, the 2-story brick house has been restored to how it looked in 1839, when Grant left home for West Point. Also in town is the 2-room schoolhouse the future president attended, plus dual statues of Grant. The newest, with sword, was inspired by the statue in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building. Adult admission, $5. Open May 1 through October 31, Wednesdays–Sundays, noon–5 p.m.

The 29th president (1921–23) was born near Marion, about 50 miles north of Columbus. The newspaperman conducted his 3-month presidential campaign in 1920 from the front porch of his Victorian-era house in Marion. Some 600,000 fans traveled to see him, arriving by train and walking about a mile to the house while passing by enterprising locals selling food and souvenirs.

Looking as it did in 1920, the Harding Home showcases period antiques and artifacts that include Italian marble sculptures collected by the president and first lady Florence on trips to Europe. The adjacent Harding Presidential Library & Museum opened in 2021. Some of its artifacts reflect that Harding was the first president to visit Canada and Alaska. Adult admission, $16. Hours vary seasonally.

Also: The Harding Memorial Presidential Gravesite in Marion is a large, circular, columned monument created of Georgia marble, reminiscent of a Greek temple. Free. Open daily during daylight hours.

The southwestern Ohio village of North Bend is a presidential twofer. The 23rd president, Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893), was born and raised on a farm established by his grandfather, President William Henry Harrison. Benjamin left for Miami University in Oxford before establishing a legal career in Indianapolis. He’s honored with an Ohio Historical Marker at the site of his boyhood home.

The 9th president, a Virginia native who resided in North Bend as an adult, served just 31 days in office in 1841 before dying of pneumonia. He is memorialized with a 60-foot limestone obelisk on Mount Nebo, overlooking the Ohio River. Below the obelisk is a 24-vault tomb, the final resting place of the president, his wife Anna (nee Symmes), and family members. Free. Open daily during daylight hours.

Also: About a mile away in Cleves, the small Harrison-Symmes Memorial Foundation Museum displays family artifacts. Free. Open by appointment only (2 weeks’ notice requested).

The 19th president (1877–1881), who survived 5 wounds during the Civil War, grew up in a wealthy uncle’s summer home in what later became Fremont. The president expanded the already large northwestern Ohio house into an elegant, 22,000-square-foot mansion with 18 bedrooms.

When Hayes died in 1893, his son led an effort to create a museum and library; Spiegel Grove, home to the sprawling mansion and 25 acres of parkland, was deeded to the state. Founded in 1916, the adjacent museum and library were open for tours even as some family members occupied the house into the 1960s. Almost all the original furnishings and fixtures in the mansion were preserved—even the embroidered linens in the master bedroom.

Today, the museum has educational exhibits and such items as first lady Lucy's wedding dress. A granite tombstone marks the wooded knoll on the property where the couple are buried. Adult admission to the house and museum, $20. Open January through April; closed Mondays and Wednesdays. Hours vary.

William McKinley, the 25th president, served from 1897 to 1901, when he was assassinated while in office. His childhood friend, industrialist Joseph Butler, began a fundraising effort to build a memorial in Niles, where McKinley was born and lived until age 9.

The effort raised $500,000, resulting in a massive Georgia marble structure that opened in 1917 with an outdoor courtyard surrounded by 2 indoor wings. The southern wing contains the local public library. In the northern wing, the museum’s collection of artifacts details the president’s life and legacy, including the Spanish-American War. Free. Library hours vary; closed Sundays. Museum open Tuesdays–Fridays, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Also: Across a street, a replica of the house where McKinley was born is filled with period antiques and a fine collection of political cartoons. Free. Open Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

President McKinley and his wife, Ida, lived in Canton, where their burial site is an elaborate, domed marble and granite monument towering over parkland. Walk up the 108 steps, and past a statue of the president, to view their marble sarcophagi in the center of the large rotunda. Free. Hours vary seasonally, April through November.

You can meet an animatronic William and Ida in the adjacent McKinley Presidential Library & Museum. Adult admission, $13. Open Tuesdays–Saturdays, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Also: In downtown Canton, the First Ladies National Historic Site offers guided tours of Ida McKinley’s family home ($7) and a separate Education Center dedicated to all First Ladies. Through April 2024, the main exhibit honors Jacqueline Kennedy. Free. Hours vary seasonally.

William Howard Taft, the 27th president (1909–1913), grew up in Cincinnati’s fancy Mount Auburn neighborhood. The restored 2-story house of his youth is elegantly furnished to reflect the Victorian era.

Taft, who followed his father in attending Yale, is the only president who also served as chief justice of the Supreme Court. His fellow Ohioan, President Warren Harding, nominated him.

Visitors to the Taft Education Center view an introductory film before taking guided tours of the home. Free. Grounds open daily during daylight hours. Visitors center open daily 8:30 a.m.–4:45 p.m.

Cleveland-based travel writer Fran Golden’s work regularly appears in such leading publications as Bloomberg and Travel and Leisure. She is the author of numerous cruise and travel books including 100 Things to Do in Alaska Before You Die (Reedy Press).