Ohio is nicknamed “The Mother of Presidents” because eight of 44 presidents were from Ohio. They are William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren B. Harding. Of those eight, four of them were from Greater Cincinnati. 

William Henry Harrison and his grandson, Benjamin Harrison, were from North Bend, Ohio, a western suburb of Cincinnati. William Henry Harrison is buried in North Bend, and his tomb is one of the Ohio Historical Society sites. The tomb has free admission and is open to visitors from March through December.

Ulysses S. Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, southeast of Cincinnati, along the Ohio River.  The Ohio Historical Society also manages this site, which welcomes visitors from spring through fall ($3 admission). Grant's Boyhood Home and Schoolhouse, also run by the OHS, are located in Georgetown, Ohio, a 40-minute drive from the birthplace. In Grant's Boyhood home, visitors see a typical rural home of the 1800's and learn about Grant's aspirations through watching an animatronic figure of Grant as a teenager.  Artifacts on display include the binoculars Grant used during the Civil War when he was an Army General.  The Schoolhouse is just a few blocks away.  Visitors learn how school was conducted in this one-room schoolhouse. We were surprised to learn that this rural one-room schoolhouse produced four admirals and two generals in addition to Grant.

Grant's Schoolhouse

William Howard Taft was born and raised in Cincinnati.  Taft's childhood home is a National Historic Site run by the National Park Service and is open to the public, free of charge. The Taft Education Center has an introductory video about the only man who was both President and Chief Justice of the United States.  Visitors can also learn about Taft from an animatronic figure of his son, Charles P. Taft II.  Every half hour there is a guided tour through the home which is decorated in period pieces from the era when the Tafts lived there.  The upstairs rooms contain exhibits about Taft and his family and display memorabilia including a White House dinner party menu.  A free Junior Ranger program is available for children. The site is open year round.

President Taft's house (above, and below)

You could learn about the presidents by reading books about them, but you gain an added dimension when you learn about them by seeing where they lived.  These sites are a treasure that many Cincinnati residents fail to recognize.  They are a wonderful opportunity for school field trips as well as family visits.

Find out more at:

http://www.ohiohistory.org/

http://www.nps.gov/wiho/index.htm 

Read more travel tips: 48 Hours in Cincinnati

Terri Weeks is a family travel writer in the Cincinnati area, a mom to three terrific kids, and the Cincinnati Editor for Wandering Educators.  Terri is a local travel guru in Cincinnati.  She and co-author Laura Hoevener have been exploring locations in and around Cincinnati for the last ten years. Together, they compiled all of their favorite adventures into their book, Adventures Around Cincinnati: A Parent's Guide to Unique and Memorable Places to Explore with your Kids.  Additionally, her family is on a mission to visit all 50 states by the time her kids graduate from high school. She blogs about family travelin the US at http://travel50stateswithkids.com/.  

Photos courtesy of and copyright Terri Weeks.