James A. Garfield National Historic Site is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

National Historic Site located in

Mentor, Ohio Mentor ( ) is the largest city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 47,450 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. Mentor was first settled in 1797. In 1876, James A. Garfield purchased a home in Me ...

. The site preserves the Lawnfield estate and surrounding property of

James Abram Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

, the 20th

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

, and includes the first presidential library established in the United States.

History

James A. Garfield acquired the home in 1876 to accommodate his large family. During the 1880 presidential election, Garfield conducted what became the first successful front porch campaign from the home, which became known as "Lawnfield" by the reporters covering his campaign. That same year, Garfield had 11 rooms added to the building to accommodate his large family.Garfield Home Undergone Restoration
, Moreland Hills Historical Society. Garfield was shot four months into his term and died on September 19, 1881. Four years after his assassination, his widow Lucretia Garfield and her family added the Memorial Library wing, setting the precedent for

presidential libraries A presidential library, presidential center, or presidential museum is a facility either created in honor of a former president and containing their papers, or affiliated with a country's presidency. In the United States * The presidential libr ...

. Garfield purchased the Mentor residence for several reasons. Until this time, he had been a resident of Hiram and represented the 19th Ohio congressional district. The Democratic Ohio Legislature had redistricted and removed the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

counties of Ashtabula, Lake, Geauga, and Trumbull from the district, leaving only the Democratic Party counties of Ashland, Stark and Wayne.Lawnfield Historic Structures Report, James A Garfield National Historic Site; National Park Service; January 1990 Garfield also wanted a place where his sons could learn about farming, as well as a permanent residence where he could spend his summers while Congress was on recess. Lucretia Garfield lived in the house at least part of every year until her death in 1918. Her brother, Joseph Rudolph, lived there until he died in 1934. In 1936, Garfield's children donated the house and its contents to the

Western Reserve Historical Society The Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS) is a historical society in Cleveland, Ohio. The society operates the Cleveland History Center, a collection of museums in University Circle. The society was founded in 1867, making it the oldest cul ...

for use as a museum. On December 28, 1980, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

declared the Garfield home a National Historic Site.Lawnfield, James A. Garfield National Historic Site
, Western Reserve Historical Society. The site was operated by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

with the Western Reserve Historical Society until January 2008, at which time the WRHS transferred the site's land, buildings and operation to the National Park Service. the site is managed by

Cuyahoga Valley National Park Cuyahoga Valley National Park is an American national park that preserves and reclaims the rural landscape along the Cuyahoga River between Akron and Cleveland in Northeast Ohio. The park is administered by the National Park Service, but within ...

Restoration

In the 1990s, a $12.5 million, six-year restoration of the Garfield house took place, with a grand reopening in 1998. The house was redecorated with authentic furniture and household items of 1886–1904 acquired through extensive research by the Denver Service Center of the National Park Service.The James A. Garfield National Historic Site
National Park Service, Denver Service Center. The Garfield Historical Site is one of the most accurately restored and highly detailed of the 19th-century U.S. presidential sites. Of its hundreds of examples of antique Victorian furniture, over 80% was owned by the Garfield family themselves in the 1880s. Many others were acquired or recreated by the National Park Service to supplement the collection. Ten

wallpaper Wallpaper is a material used in interior decoration to decorate the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" (so ...

s were also reproduced from photographs, and from samples found under layers of wallpaper applied through the subsequent decades.James A. Garfield: Lawnfield
, North-East Ohio: Mentor, Touring Ohio.com.

Gallery

Image:Lawnfield.jpg, James Garfield's home, before restoration, 1976 Image:Lawnfieldmodern.jpg, Garfield's home, side, 2007 Image:Lawnfield Bedroom.JPG, Period Bedroom in the Garfield home File:Garfield Home (ca 1885) NPS, DSC (1st floor).JPG, First Floor 1885 File:Garfield Home (ca 1885) NPS, DSC (2nd floor).JPG, Second Floor 1885

References

External links

James A. Garfield National Historic Site"Life Portrait of James Garfield"
from

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

's '' American Presidents: Life Portraits'', broadcast from the James A. Garfield National Historic Site, July 26, 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Garfield, James A. National Historic Site Presidential libraries Mentor, Ohio Presidential homes in the United States National Historic Landmarks in Ohio National Historic Sites in Ohio Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio National Historic Site Historic house museums in Ohio National Park Service areas in Ohio Protected areas established in 1980 Museums in Lake County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Lake County, Ohio Presidential museums in Ohio Houses completed in 1876 Houses in Lake County, Ohio

History

Restoration

Gallery

See also

References

External links