Grounds of the Garfield Farm at James A. Garfield National Historic Site

In 1876, James and Lucretia Garfield purchased a 118-acre farm in Mentor, Ohio, from the Dickey Family, then purchased another 40 acres the following year. Today only eight acres remain. Half of the property was sold by Lucretia in the years after her husband’s assassination, and the rest was sold by the Garfield children (Lucretia died in 1918). The eight acres that remained in the family by the 1930s, which included the main house and a few outbuildings, were donated to the Western Reserve Historical Society in 1936.

Being a working farm, there were typical farm buildings on the property, and some of these are still standing today. For those interested in seeing them, a paved walking path connects to all the buildings, and there are wayside exhibits along the way that give their history. For additional information, visitors can utilize a free Cell Phone Audio Tour. Placards are placed at various locations on the property. Dial the phone number, enter the stop number, and then listen to a narration about a particular topic or building.

Stop on the Cell Phone Audio Tour of James A. Garfield National Historic Site

Today’s Visitor Center itself is one of the farm buildings. It was built after Garfield’s death by Lucretia in 1893 for use as a carriage house and horse barn. It was converted into the Visitor Center during a renovation in 1997-98 by the National Park Service.

Visitor Center at James A. Garfield National Historic Site

The small, one-story stone building attached to the Visitor Center is the gasholder building. Nature gas was discovered on the Garfield farm in 1882, and when Lucretia updated the house and many of the outbuildings in 1885-86, she converted the lighting and heating used in many of them to gas. When she had the carriage house and horse barn built, she added a new gasholder building to the project.

The gasholder building housed a metal storage tank that held the gas. Underground pipes carried the gas to various buildings. It was not uncommon at the time for people with natural gas deposits on their property to have a gasholder building, but even in rural areas these were largely phased out by the early 1900s as electric lighting replaced gas lighting and public utilities started providing natural gas. The Garfield’s gas actually ran out by 1910.

Rear of the James A. Garfield National Historic Site Visitor Center with the stone gasholder building on the right

The red building to the right of the Visitor Center (if looking at it from the parking lot) was built by Lucretia in 1885 for the farm overseer and his family. Today it is an office for the National Park Service.

Tenant House at James A. Garfield National Historic Site

To the rear of the parking lot (opposite the Visitor Center) are three buildings. The largest is a horse barn built by Garfield in 1877. It was originally located closer to the road near the main house, but Lucretia had it moved to the rear of the property when she built the new carriage house and horse barn in 1893.

The building that is elevated off the ground on stilts is a granary (building where grain is stored). This is one of two surviving buildings that were on the farm when the Garfields purchased it.

The smaller building is a chicken coop built in 1893. The parking lot is where the chicken yard once was. Chickens were raised on the farm all the way up until the Garfield children donated the property to the Western Reserve Historical Society.

Farm buildings at James A. Garfield National Historic Site

As you walk from the Visitor Center to the Garfield House, a windmill is off to the left. This was built in 1894 to pump water to the house and farm fields. Inside it is a 500-barrel water tank and a pump. The windmill was in use until the town of Mentor began providing public water in 1939.

Windmill at James A. Garfield National Historic Site

When Garfield ran for president in 1880, candidates did not campaign for themselves. They were expected to sit home while their supporters did the campaigning for them. While Garfield did stay home, he could not contain his zest for public speaking, and he began addressing groups that came to Mentor to see him from the front porch of his house. Over 15,000 people made the journey from July through early November, representing all sorts of interest groups and media companies. This was the first Front Porch Campaign, and it started a trend that was followed by Benjamin Harrison in 1888 and William McKinley in 1896.

Garfield used a small building next to his house for his campaign office. It is one of the two surviving buildings that were on the Dickey Farm when he purchased it. Originally a bunk house for farm workers, he had it converted into his library the year after the family moved in, then into his campaign office in June 1880. This is where Garfield met the press and those working with him on the campaign. He had telegraph lines run to the building, and it was here that he got word on November 2nd that he had won the election. Visitors to the park can now look inside the office. The bookcases and books in the building are original.

Interior of James Garfield’s library and campaign office at James A. Garfield National Historic Site

A tour of the grounds of James A. Garfield National Historic Site entails a quarter mile of walking and takes about a half hour. The terrain is flat, and as mentioned, the buildings are along a paved path that is suitable for all visitors, including those in wheelchairs.

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