Visits to Presidential Sites

21st President, 1881 - 1885 Chester Arthur sites visited:  Arthur is one of two Presidents from Vermont (the other being Calvin Coolidge) and some say he was actually born across the border in Canada. Sometime after the Civil War (another source says 1858), Arthur purchased this five story home at 123 Lexington Avenue in New York City. Today the first two floors are occupied by Kalustyan's Indian grocery store and the other floors have been divided into apartments. Here's the building and the hard-to-read plaque from our 2021 visit to New York. Garfield was shot four months into his term and two months later he died. Arthur took his oath of office here after Garfield's death.  Ugly rumors spread after the shooting of Garfield that Arthur was involved in his assassination. Arthur finished that first term and did not campaign for a second. He died a year after leaving the Presidency, here in his home. Chester Arthur's father bought a large family plot in Albany Rural Ceme...

30th President, 1923 - 1929 Calvin Coolidge sites visited: Coolidge was born in Plymouth Notch, Plymouth Vermont, on this site. The President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site (3780 VT-100A, Plymouth) also contains his boyhood home (which was not open). There's a preserved farm shop, also not open. An 1840s church where the Coolidges worshipped was not open. The Cheese Factory was open and operating! It was started in 1890 by the President's father, Colonel John Coolidge. The factory closed in 1934 but was re-opened in 1934 by the President's son, John. The second floor has a small exhibit with photos and information. Some random photos. These were very cool sculptures found on the main floor. We did some cheese tasting and bought some cheese 😊 Photo of a Coolidge cabinet meeting (from the Gerald R Ford Museum in Grand Rapids). We then headed to the Plymouth Notch Cemetery, about half a mile away, where seven generations of Coolidges reside. These are the President's...