Visits to Presidential Sites

5th President, 1817-1825 James Monroe sites visited: James Monroe was born here in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Rapids City, South Dakota, City of Presidents statue: From our stamp collection: He has a bust in the Capitol Building in Richmond, Virginia. One of three presidents who died on July 4 (John Adams & Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826), Monroe's gravesite is unique and ornate, and can be found in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia.  Monroe was originally buried in New York at the Gouverneur family's vault in New York City Marble Cemetery. Twenty-seven years later his body was reinterred in the Presidents Circle at the Holly Cemetery. "The best form of government is that which is most likely to prevent the greatest sum of evil."  

3rd President, 1801-1809  Thomas Jefferson sites visited: Jefferson was born on the Shadwell Plantation (Virginia), which no longer exists but there is a marker. Some of his early childhood was spent at the Tuckahoe Plantation in Richmond, Virginia. Rapids City, South Dakota, City of Presidents statue: From our stamp collection: Jefferson is included on the Washington monument in Richmond, the capital of Virginia (lower right), and also has a statue and a bust in the Capitol Building. In the White House. In 1776, Jefferson rented the second story rooms on this site in Philadelphia where he drafted the Declaration of Independence. Independence Hall in Philadelphia contains the room where the Declaration of Independence was adopted. The home most associated with Jefferson is Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. We first visited in 2021 but could not get tour tickets. So we strolled the grounds. In 2022, we purchased tickets in advance and got to tour the house. There is an Africa...