We left
yesterday evening and arrived in Richmond early this morning. As many
of our friends and family members already know, we are on a mission
(ignited awhile back by B's interest in the U.S. Presidents and
both Hubby's and my interest in history ~ while Hubby is better with
dates and historical events, I'm more interested in older homes and
antiques!) to visit as many U.S. Presidential Sites as possible. I have
a very comprehensive list (now years in the making) of birthplaces,
homes, places of death, and burial spots of each U.S. President, along
with the date that we have visited each. We are continuing to work our
way around the country trying to visit each, documenting our trips along
the way... This, along with B's "Capitol Steps Challenge" (his
goal to visit and run up the exterior steps of each state capitol
building), something that he came up with all on his own a couple of
years ago, has kept us quite busy on our family road trips, and has
given us a definite purpose and direction when planning over the last 5
years!
On our last trip to Richmond, I hadn't yet
figured out where the, now long gone, Exchange Hotel once stood. There
is not much information out there, and currently no plaque or anything
marking its former location. So, with a little more research this time,
we found ourselves right back where we started our last trip to D.C.,
on the grounds of the
Virginia State Capitol.
The
Exchange Hotel once stood at the corner of 14th Street and Franklin
Street. Connected by a pedestrian bridge over 14th Street to the
Ballard Hotel, this is where President John Tyler died in 1862.
{Exchange Hotel on the Right}
Today,
"Old 14th Street" kind of spills into a raised capitol complex parking
lot at the juncture of Bank Street/Franklin Street.. Imagining that we
are on the correct side of what used to be "Old 14th Street", this is
the best we could do on documenting where President John Tyler, our 10th
President, passed away...
{that's the stoplight at modern 14th Street and Bank Street/Franklin Street behind B}
From
Richmond, we continued on to Charles City, Virginia. Charles City is a
beautiful, quiet place, and home to several old plantations. Our first
stop was
Berkeley Plantation at Harrison's Landing.
Berkeley Plantation was on our must visit list because it is the
ancestral home of the Harrison family, and the birthplace of our 9th
President, William Henry Harrison...
Situated
on the James River at Harrison's Landing, this beautiful plantation has
been lovingly restored. Though no photos were allowed inside, we had a
great tour of the first floor and not only learned a little about
William Henry Harrison, but more about this plantation and its place in
history, as well.
Berkeley
Plantation at Harrison's Landing claims to be the actual site of the
First Thanksgiving in America, the location of the first whiskey
distillery, and the place where the army song, "Taps" was first played,
among other things...
{M on the banks of the James River}
From Berkeley, we make a couple of stops for photos at a few more sites...
Greenway Plantation, now a private home, birthplace of John Tyler...
and what we believe to be the entrance to
Woodburn Plantation, now
a private home, and another former residence of John Tyler...
No marker here, though, so this is probably our most vague site to date
(along with the former site of the Exchange Hotel). We are just making
an educated guess based on coordinates, plus the fact that this is the
only plantation-type entrance on this road!
Next stop,
Sherwood Forest Plantation...
At noon, we met up with our fabulous tour guide, Tim, and toured the grounds...
{listening
intently to the tour guide's stories & rocking the rocking chairs
to pieces - you guess which one is which ~ in M's defense, she had just finished touring one plantation already by this point in the day}
B and I got to tour inside the home, as well.
{President Tyler had the door knocker (engraved with Sherwood Forest) made in NY}
This
was a wonderful tour, chock full with information about President John
Tyler. In fact, the neatest part about this tour? John Tyler's
grandson (that's right, not great grandson or great-great grandson, but
GRANDson) still resides in the home. I was hoping that we would get to
meet him and his wife (from South Carolina), but we did not.
Regardless, I can't say enough about this tour. It was pricey, and that
is why just B and I went on the interior portion, but it was
really, really neat... I mean, it is truly a private tour of a still
lived in home...
While no photos are allowed inside, we did get a couple more outside...
This ginkgo tree is supposedly the oldest in America, a gift to President Tyler from the Emperor of China...
Descendants of this tree are planted at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.
From
Charles City, we took one more detour to Port Conway, and the marker
for the birthplace of President James Madison, on the banks of the
Rappahannock River...
The
home where President Madison was born no longer stands, but another
home was built on the current plantation grounds in the late 1700s, and
is presently operated as a Bed & Breakfast...
With that, we continued on into the city, ready to turn in after a long day of presidential sightseeing...
More on tap for tomorrow...
