This is the home of President Rutherford B. Hayes. Mike and I have been here a couple of times. The first time was with Jim, and Mike timed that visit to coincide with a Civil War encampment. The last time we went was two years ago. The question that kept getting asked was what was the burlap around the trees for. I don’t remember all the details, other than it was some way to trap a certain type of bug and keep it from destroying the trees. You can read more about President Hayes and Spiegel Grove here:
From the website: “As you enter the grounds of Spiegel Grove, a pair of large iron sentinels flanks the roadway. Closer examination reveals the ornate gates bear the Presidential seal at their center. These are in fact the original gates to the White House. They are one of five sets donated in 1928 by Congress for use at the entranceways to Spiegel Grove – site of the nation’s first presidential library.”
The last line in the above paragraph sums up the joke of that trip. Every presidential home we visited (and there were quite a few that trip) claimed to have had the first presidential library in some form.
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