Warren G. Harding, the 29th president of the United States, built this frame house in Marion, Ohio in 1890 and made it his home until he became president in 1920.

In 1890, Harding and Florence Kling DeWolfe designed the home on Mount Vernon Avenue and arranged for its construction, in anticipation of their marriage, which took place in the large front hallway of the completed house in July 1891. When the principal contenders for the 1920 Republican presidential nomination deadlocked, party leaders picked Harding as the compromise candidate.

During the campaign, Harding spoke to thousands of people from the wide Colonial Revival front porch of his home. So many people came to hear him that the family had to replace the front lawn with gravel.                      (source: www.nps.gov)

 

 

The Harding Tomb, also known as the Harding Memorial, is the burial location of the 29th President of the United States, Warren G. Harding and First Lady Florence Kling Harding. It is located in Marion, Ohio at the southeast corner of Vernon Heights Boulevard and Delaware Avenue.

$977,000 was raised to have this monument built for a resting place for a man that was president for 2 years before he died of a heart attack.

On the shoulders of her father, Anna’s grandmother attended Harding’s memorial service in 1923.

Begun in 1926 and finished in the early winter of 1927, the structure is built of white marble. Designed by Henry Hornbostel, Eric Fisher Wood and Edward Mellon, the structure is 103 feet in diameter and 53 feet in height.  (source: wikipedia.org)

 

 

 

In July 1985 Anna’s family visited Harding’s home and burial site when she was 9 turning 10 in August.

28 years later she returns with her children.

Ironically, Clark is 9 turning 10 in September.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Hey, kids have you ever seen a covered bridge?”

“Me neither. Let’s go see it!”

We turned down a windy, country road and discovered our first covered bridge.

The Parker Covered Bridge crosses the Sandusky River in Wyandot County and is located in Crane Township on Township Road 40. It’s a little tricky finding the Parker Bridge, but well worth the effort. The Parker Bridge was built in 1873, but burned in 1991 and was renovated in 1992.  (source: blog.tiffinohio.org)

 

 

 

 

President Rutherford B. Hayes home

No photography was allowed in the home so I have no evidence but the interior was quite impressive.

The original structure received additions twice resulting in 18 bedrooms, large rooms for entertaining, and an elevator.

My favorite touch was the small engraved door knockers on each bedroom door so the guests would know which bedroom was theirs eliminating any confusion.

Hayes loved books and had a library with 13’ ceilings with books from floor to ceiling.

The kids hopped back in the van making plans to add more bedrooms to our house so we could house more guests!

 

 

President Rutherford B. Hayes Library

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

President and Mrs. Hayes are buried on their property in a very modest fashion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way to our next historical spot we passed through Tiffin, Ohio. As we were making our way through this quaint town we spotted a 9/11 memorial. Curious we turned around to investigate why such a memorial would be in a small Ohio town.

We discovered that several hundred towns in America had requested a piece of the World Trade Center.

Only a handful of towns were selected and Tiffin, Ohio was one such town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The birthplace of Thomas Edison was our next stop.

We knew we were in the right town when we saw the street lamps were made to look like light bulbs which is Milan’s proud way of honoring Edison.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ended our busy day at Vermillion Lighthouse looking out across the waters of Lake Erie.

The Vermilion Lighthouse is a lighthouse on the shores of Lake Erie in Vermilion, Ohio. It is situated on the grounds of the Inland Seas Maritime Museum near the mouth of the Vermilion River. Erected on 23 October 1991 and dedicated on 6 June 1992, the lighthouse is illuminated by a 200 watt incandescent light bulb with a 5th order Fresnel lens. The lighthouse’s United States Coast Guard-mandated light color is steady red.            (source: wikipedia.org)