Spiegel Grove (Rutherford B. Hayes Summer Home).jpg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Spiegel Grove, also known as Spiegel Grove State Park, Rutherford B. Hayes House, Rutherford B. Hayes Summer Home and Rutherford B. Hayes State Memorial was the estate of Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States, located at the corner of Hayes and Buckland Avenues in Fremont, Ohio. ''
Spiegel Spiegel is German, Yiddish, and Dutch for "mirror". More specifically, it may refer to: Publications * '' Der Spiegel'', a weekly German magazine * Der Spiegel (online), the online sibling of ''Der Spiegel'' Political * Spiegel scandal, a 1962 ...
'' is the German and Dutch word for '' mirror''. The traditional story is that the estate was named by Hayes' uncle Sardis Birchard, who first built it for his own residence. He named it for the reflective pools of water that collected on the property after a rain shower. Rutherford Hayes inherited the estate and moved there in 1873. He died in 1893 and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery next to his wife who had died in 1889. Following the gift of this home to the state of Ohio for the Spiegel Grove State Park, their bodies were reinterred at Spiegel Grove in 1915. They are buried at a memorial on the property. The
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center is a complex comprising several buildings related to the life and presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes. It is the first presidential library, built in 1916, and one of three such libraries for US presidents ...
, established in 1916, is also located here. "''Old Whitey''", a war horse that served during the Civil War and belonged to then-Major (later Major General) Hayes, became the mascot of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The horse was buried at Spiegel Grove upon his death in 1879, with a grave marker reading ''Old Whitey A Hero of Nineteen Battles 1861–1865''. Hoogenboom, Ari. ''Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President''. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1995, p. 173. Spiegel Grove was designated as a National Historic Landmark on January 29, 1964. and   On October 15, 1966, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.


Design

The house was built around 1860 for Sardis Birchard as a two-story brick mansion. It featured many bedrooms and a wrap-around porch. In 1880, after Rutherford B. Hayes had moved in, he expanded the house by the addition of 5 new rooms, and the massive staircase that led all the way up to the 4th floor. In 1889, 6 more rooms were added to the house, giving it its current appearance. After the expansions, the house had more than 30 rooms and of living space.


Tourism

The estate was given to the state for the Spiegel Grove State Park. Since then, the house has been open for tourists as a house museum. For a fee, visitors can view the various rooms as well as furniture, books, and other items in the house. Visitors are allowed to access most of the rooms on the first and second floors. The third and fourth floors are not open to the public.


See also

*
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center is a complex comprising several buildings related to the life and presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes. It is the first presidential library, built in 1916, and one of three such libraries for US presidents ...
* * List of residences of presidents of the United States * Presidential memorials in the United States


References


External links


National Park Service site on Spiegel Grove

Rutherford B. and Lucy Webb Hayes at Spiegel Grove

Hayes Center
* * * {{NRHP in Sandusky County, Ohio National Historic Landmarks in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Sandusky County, Ohio Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Historic American Buildings Survey in Ohio Houses completed in 1873 Historic house museums in Ohio Presidential homes in the United States Museums in Sandusky County, Ohio Ohio History Connection Presidential museums in Ohio Buildings and structures in Fremont, Ohio Houses in Sandusky County, Ohio Tombs of presidents of the United States Rutherford B. Hayes