57. William Howard Taft National Historic Site, Ohio

               Hello!  Welcome back to our blog.  In this entry we will be making a stop at the last NPS unit dedicated to an Ohio President at William Howard Taft National Historic Site.

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND:

               In 1857, a prominent Ohio lawyer Alphonso Taft and his wife Louise, celebrated the birth of their son William in their house in the upscale Mt. Auburn neighborhood of Cincinnati.  Following the Civil War, Alphonso would become a statesman, actively involved in the Ohio Republican Party.  When he reached adulthood, William Taft decided to follow his father into politics, embarking on a storied career and founding a political dynasty.  Taft worked his way up the ranks of the Republican party, first through the court system and then as a diplomat, gaining notoriety for his efforts to establish a new government in the Philippines following its acquisition in 1898.  After becoming good friends with Theodore Roosevelt, he was appointed Secretary of War after Roosevelt ascended to the Presidency and was anointed as his successor. 

While Taft successfully campaigned for President in 1908, he had a falling out with Roosevelt over policy, leading to Roosevelt running against him as an independent, splitting the Republican vote and allowing Democrat Thomas Woodrow Wilson to win the Presidency.  Taft retreated from the limelight following his tenure as President, until President Warren G. Harding gave him the job he had dreamed of his whole life; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  Taft would serve on the high court from 1921 until 1930 and is the only person to have been both President and Chief Justice.

In addition to his own career, generations of his descendants entered into politics, most notably the lineage of his son Robert Taft, one of the most prominent Senators of the 20^th century, Robert Jr. who was also a Senator, and Robert III who was governor of Ohio.

The birthplace and childhood home of William Howard Taft

THE SITE:

               William Howard Taft National Historic Site is located on Auburn Avenue in the Mt. Auburn neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio.  The site consists of a small visitor center and the house owned by Alphonso Taft which was the birthplace and boyhood home of William Howard Taft.  The house is an original structure which has been restored on the ground floor to its appearance circa 1855-1865 when Taft was growing up at the house.  The second floor of the house contains galleries with exhibits featuring artifacts from both William Howard Taft’s career but also his father Alphonso.

The restored parlor of the Taft home.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               William Howard Taft National Historic Site is open from 8am to 4pm year-round, except on major holidays.  Ranger led tours of the Taft house are scheduled every hour on the hour.  The site is handicapped accessible and the visitor center contains a short film on the life of William Howard Taft.  Passport Stamps can be found at the front desk in the visitor center.

A second view of the house's exterior seen through the front gate.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

The restored office of Alphonso Taft.

A second view of the restored parlor.

A series of gifts on display in the Taft home given to Alphonso Taft from the Russian Czar while he was serving as an ambassador.

The ceremonial key to the city of Manila given in recognition of William Howard Taft's work in the Philippines following its acquisition following the Spanish-American War.

56. Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Ohio

               Welcome back to our blog!  In this post we are visiting an ancient American Indian site in southern Ohio famous for its burial mounds.

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND:

               Lasting from about the year 200 B.C. to A.D. 500, the ancient American Indian people known as the “Hopewell Culture” stretched over an area along the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys.  The wide influence of these people facilitated the trade of diverse goods such as copper, silver, mica, and obsidian to the Hopewell heartland in Ohio.  These goods were then buried with the dead in elaborate earthworks spread out across the major river valleys of North America.  Because the Hopewell left no written language, modern archaeologists have only the tantalizing clues left behind by the burials and apparent astronomical alignments to help them surmise the significance of the earthworks.

               When Europeans began to settle the Midwest, the settlers paid little attention to these earthworks seeing them more as obstacles to farming.  The Smithsonian Institute conducted some of its first archaeological studies focusing on these ancient earthworks, but it was not until the beginning of the 20^th century that serious study and preservation work was done.  The most promising of these earthwork sites were located in and around the town of Chillicothe in southern Ohio.  Here, five major earthworks were studied, particularly the dramatic Mound City Group.  Disaster almost befell the earthworks during World War One, when the US Army built a training camp directly over Mound City Group and it was only through direct appeals by archaeologists to the camp commandant that saved the most prominent burial mounds from destruction.  As soon as the war ended, archaeological work resumed, the earthworks at Mound City Group were restored, and in 1923 Ohio native President Warren G. Harding declared the sites around Chillicothe a National Monument under the National Park Service.

A wide view of the Mound City Group earthworks.

THE HISTORICAL PARK:

               Hopewell Culture National Historical Park is spread out over five distinct earthwork sites in and around the town of Chillicothe, Ohio.  The primary site is “Mound City Group,” just north of Chillicothe on the west bank of the Scioto River.  The visitor center is located at the entrance to Mound City Group, which was the only one of the five earthworks in the park that were restored in the early 20^th Century.  The visitor center contains a small museum with artifacts from the archaeological digs and a short film.  The other earthworks (Hopewell Mound Group, Seip, and Hopeton) are open to the public, but centuries of natural erosion and later wanton destruction by farming are now barely noticeable bumps in the terrain.  The NPS has a policy of mowing the grass at the additional works in a way that accentuates the outline of the earthworks.  The fifth earthwork, High Bank Works, is not open to the public.  Visitors may walk the grounds at the four open earthwork sites with the stipulation that the earthworks are not to be stepped on.

A view of Mound 7 and the Elliptical Mound just behind it, the two most prominent of Mound City Group's burial mounds.  It was these mounds that were saved from destruction by the Army through the efforts of archaeologists to build the camp barracks around the mounds. 

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Hopewell Culture National Historical Park is roughly an hour’s drive south from Columbus, Ohio.  The park grounds are open from dawn until dusk with the visitor center open year-round with major holiday exceptions from 8:30am to 5pm.  All of the open earthwork sites can be seen within a few hours.  There are no paved trails at the earthworks so handicapped accessibility is limited.  Passport stamps can be found at the visitor center.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

Examples of artifacts found within the burial mounds on display in the visitor center.

A copper bird found within Mound 7 at Mound City Group.  The artifact is the unofficial logo of the park.

A series of topographical maps with artistic embellishments illustrating the five earthworks preserved by the park.

The wooden plugs in this photo represent where wooden stakes for a structure were placed within the Mound City Group enclosure.  It is presumed that the structure was used for ceremonies, probably related to the burials. 

55. Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, Missouri

               Hello and welcome back to our blog.  In this post we are visiting the second NPS unit in St. Louis, the homestead where Ulysses S. Grant, the man who lead the Union Army to victory and later became the 18^th President of the United States, met his wife and struggled to provide for his family before his rise to fame.

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND:

               In 1843, a young West Point graduate named Ulysses S. Grant was assigned to a posting at Jefferson Barracks outside the city of St. Louis.  Grant’s friend and classmate Frederick Dent was from the area and invited Grant to his family’s estate White Haven.  There, Grant met Frederick’s sister, Julia, whom he quickly fell in love with.  Following his service in the Mexican War, Grant returned to St. Louis and married Julia.  The relationship had its controversies.  Grant came from a staunchly abolitionist Ohio family, while Julia’s father was a wealthy slaveholding plantation owner.

               Grant resigned from the Army in 1854 and returned to St. Louis.  Living at White Haven with Julia and her family, Grant tried his hand at farming but ran into poor luck due to ruinous weather and an economic downturn.  Grant worked a plethora of odd jobs trying to make a sustainable income for his family, but he gave up farming in 1859, moving to Galena, Illinois to help with his father’s leather business. 

               The Civil War would see Grant rise to fame and fortune as a result of his military prowess, becoming commanding general of all Union armies.  After the war’s conclusion, dissatisfied with the administration of Andrew Johnson, Grant ran on the Republican ticket in 1868 and was elected the eighteenth President of the United States.

               The Grants never returned to White Haven following the Civil War and the Presidency, although Grant did continue to manage the affairs of the estate from a distance.  The property was given to industrialist William Vanderbilt in 1881 to pay off a debt after Grant had been swindled out of his fortune by an investor.  Part of the property later bought by Adolphus Busch, the co-founder of the Anheuser-Busch brewery, while the Dent home was saved by the Wenzlick family, a local real-estate developer, until it added to the National Park Service in 1989.

The Dent/Grant home at White Haven.

THE HISTORIC SITE:

               Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site is located in the southwest section of St. Louis, Missouri.  The site preserves a roughly ten-acre area surrounding White Haven, the family home of Julia Dent Grant where Ulysses S. Grant and his family resided in the 1850s.  The site consists of the White Haven house, several outlying farm buildings, a museum housed within a barn Grant had constructed following the Civil War with the intent of using it to breed horses, and a visitor center.  The White Haven home has been structurally restored but the interior is not furnished as most of the Grant family’s pre-Civil War possessions were destroyed in a fire while in storage during the 1870s.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site is a roughly twenty-minute drive from downtown St. Louis.  The site is open from 9am to 5pm year-round with major holiday exceptions.  There is no fee to enter the site or tour the home.  The visitor center contains a short film.  The White Haven house is not handicapped accessible but the visitor center and museum are.  Passport stamps can be found in the visitor center.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

Additional buildings at White Haven behind the house from left to right, the ice house, chicken coop, and summer kitchen.

The visitor center (at left) and the museum (at right) at the site.

A collection of personal items belonging to the Grant family on display in the museum.

54. New River Gorge National River, West Virginia

               Welcome back to our blog on the National Park Service.  In this post we visit the last of the three West Virginia rivers in the NPS.

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND:

               The New River in southwestern West Virginia is one of the oldest rivers in the world.  Winding through the southern Appalachians, the river cut deep gorges through the rock, creating a maze of twisting valleys.  In the late 1800s and early 1900s the region went through a modest economic boom and railroads were built hugging the edges of the gorge and coal mines extracted untold tons of minerals.  In the mid-1900s, as the railroad towns closed down and the coal mines closed, the New River became a tourist destination as rafters found the river’s many rapids to be ideal for whitewater thrills.

               In 1974, to cut travel time across the gorge, a massive bridge was built in the vicinity of Fayetteville, West Virginia.  Completed in 1977, the New River Gorge Bridge was at the time the longest single arch bridge in the world.  The bridge is now the most famous landmark in West Virginia, attracting thousands of daredevil parachuting BASE jumpers.  Shortly after the opening of the bridge in 1978, Congress designated an over fifty mile stretch of the New River a National River under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service.

A view of the New River Gorge Bridge as seen from the river level.

THE RIVER:

               New River Gorge National River is located in the vicinity of Beckley, West Virginia at the junction of Interstates 64 and 77.  The section of the river under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service stretches from the small town of Hinton in the south, to Hawk’s Nest State Park in the north, a few miles upstream from the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers which forms the Kanawha river.

               The NPS maintains two main visitor centers.  The first is the Canyon Rim visitor center, which overlooks the northern section of the gorge as well as the famous New River Gorge Bridge.  The second is the Sandstone visitor center, at the southern end of the river named after the nearby Sandstone Falls, one of two large waterfalls along the course of the river.  In addition, there are two seasonal visitor centers, located at the Grandview overlook near Beckley, and in the railroad depot of the Thurmond Historic District in the ghost town of Thurmond.

               Best known for its boating and whitewater rafting, New River Gorge National River also contains eight primitive backcountry camp sites, miles of hiking trails, as well as several historic locales.  Among the historic areas preserved by the NPS are the Nuttalburg Mine Site, a former coal mine, and the ghost town of Thurmond, a once prosperous railroad town.  Adjacent to the National River is the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve, home of the annual National Jamboree for the Boy Scouts of America.

A modern freight train halts beside the historic train station at the ghost town of Thurmond.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               New River Gorge National River is less than an hour’s drive south from Charleston, the West Virginia state capital.  Along with Gauley River NRA and Bluestone NSR, the area around New River Gorge is a hot spot for wilderness recreation in West Virginia boasting seven state parks, two wildlife management areas, and a state forest.  Although the rugged nature of the terrain can make travel somewhat time consuming, most areas of the National River are within a half hour to an hour’s drive from the town of Beckley.

               Famous for its whitewater rafting, New River Gorge NR has several licensed outfitters and tour groups for visitors to raft down the river, links to which can be found on the NPS website.  There are private companies that provide walking tours of the New River Gorge Bridge and rock climbing along the cliffs near the bridge is popular as well.

               While the facilities within the National River boundary are handicapped accessible, much of the terrain of the river area is not.  Passport stamps can be found at each of the visitor centers.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

A second view of the New River Gorge Bridge, taken from an overlook near the Canyon Rim visitor center.

A view of New River Gorge taken from the Canyon Rim visitor center.

This was the original bridge across the New River which was replaced by the larger famous span.  This bridge was accessible only by a narrow winding road which is now a scenic drive.

Another view of the New River and the gorge taken from the railroad bridge leading to Thurmond.

A second view of the historic ghost town of Thurmond.

53. Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, Hawaii

               Hello again and welcome back to our blog.  We will be returning to Hawaii in this post to visit a place that was sacred to ancient Hawaiians, Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park.

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND:

               Prior to European contact, the native peoples of Hawaii lived by a strict set of religious laws, known as the kapu, which governed many facets of daily life.  The punishment for breaking these laws was death.  However, if a person who had broken the kapu laws was able to evade capture and reach a Pu’uhonua, or refuge, the lawbreaker would need to only wait three days within the sacred grounds before receiving absolution from a priest and being able to walk free once more.  The kapu remained the law of the Hawaiian islands until 1819, when Kamehameha II, the son of Kamehameha the Great who united the islands into one kingdom, shattered the system by daring eat dinner alongside his mother.

The cove on the shore of the royal grounds at Pu'uhonua O Honaunau.

THE PARK:

               Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, is located on the western coast of the Island of Hawaii, better known as the Big Island.  The name of the site is derived from the word for refuge, Pu’uhonua, and Honaunau, the name of the ancient Hawaii local land division called Ahupua’a.  The park preserves coastline from two additional Ahupua’a, but is centered on the sacred refuge and the royal grounds that were adjacent to it.  Pu’uhonua were once common on the island of Hawaii, but the refuge at Honaunau is the only one that has not been lost to the ravages of time thanks to the efforts of a local land owner who preserved the site, allowing it to be incorporated into the National Park Service in 1961.

The reconstructed Hale O Keawe mausoleum.  The Totem pole-like structures are Ki'i, wooden carvings of ancient Hawaiian gods.

               The main attraction at the park is the royal grounds and the temple that once made up the original Pu’uhonua.  The structures present at the site today, are mostly reconstructions, and include a Halau, or canoe house, and the Hale o Keawe, the royal mausoleum.  One original structure that does remain intact is The Great Wall, a large stone wall which marked the boundary between the royal grounds and the Pu’uhonua refuge.  The refuge itself is a small point of barren land made of lava rock that extends into Honaunau Bay.  As the Pu’uhonua is surrounded on its landward side by the royal grounds, which commoners were forbidden to enter under the kapu, the only way for a lawbreaker to reach the refuge would have been to swim onto the point.  Within the park are the ruins of several Heiau, or temples, and a Keokua Holua, a sled track used in sporting competitions.  A section of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail, which runs along the west coast of Hawaii, extends down the length of the park.

The Great Wall separating the royal grounds from the Pu'uhonua sanctuary.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park is roughly a twenty-five-minute drive south of Kailua Kona on the west coast of the island of Hawaii.  There is a fee for entry into the park, which is open year-round, the grounds being open from 7am until sunset.  The open-air visitor center is open from 8:30am to 4:30pm.  Tours of the park are self-guided, although Ranger led programs are available.  The park is mostly handicapped accessible, although the Ala Kahakai Trail is not, and much of the sandy terrain may be difficult for wheelchairs.  Warning signs are posted around the park to alert visitors not to interact with sea turtles which often come up onto the small beach at the royal grounds.  Passport stamps can be found at the visitor center.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

The canoe house within the royal grounds

A fishpond within the royal grounds used to maintain a supply of fresh fish for meals.

A view of the rocky point of the Pu'uhonua.

A view of the enclosure within the Pu'uhonua.  The '13' in the foreground is a marker for the walking tour in the park brochure pointing out the flattened slab to the marker's left, a rock which was used as a game board for the Native Hawaiian game Konane.

The section of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail which runs through Pu'uhonua National Historical Park.  The trail runs along Hawaii's west coast, connecting to two other NPS units, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, and Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site.

A mural of Hawaiian culture at the visitor center.