William Howard Taft National Historic Site

On the morning of November 29th, my fiancée and I went to William Howard Taft National Historic Site for our first stop on her birthday weekend. She knows I use to be a history major and US presidents are and is still my passion. I wrote a lot of papers on Taft when I was in college. There were a lot of interesting and fun things I learned about the 27th president of the United States of America that I didn't know about when I wrote papers about him.

A beautiful tribute and tons of information about the 27th POTUS who served 1909-1913 and was the only person to serve not only as POTUS but also Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1921-1930). Among other things, he was responsible for establishing the income tax and splitting the Republican Party such that it let to the election of Woodrow Wilson.The historic site was the birthplace and childhood home of the man. It is a two-story structure built around 1845 and was purchased by Alphonso Taft (William Howard Taft's father) in 1851. The family was upper class and so they used the house for social events. The house is open for touring and includes several rooms set up in period style as it would have been if the Taft family were still living here. Some larger rooms have mementoes and captions explaining the life and times of the former POTUS and SCOTUS Chief Justice. There's a lot to read and take in. Expect at least an hour, probably two.[Review 21136 overall - 236 in Ohio - 99 of 2024.]

I am a self proclaimed presidential history "nerd". I've read a biography on each president in order (currently reading F.D.R.), and my bucket list includes visiting all their birth and burial places. I also make it a point to visit presidential libraries, national historic sites, etc. So, bottom line, I'm tough on these places. Taft site was not as impressive as some of the others I've been to, and that mainly has to do with the lack of original artifacts within the home. Although I was disappointed to learn it is a house filled with mostly period pieces not original to the Taft family, I later learned that was due to a fire in the home. The tour was short and underwhelming. I had more fun on the third floor reading informational boards and seeing things like Taft's cabinet chair and the Bible on which he placed his hand during his inauguration.Ultimately, I'm glad I went, but I was not overly impressed.

William Howard Taft was our 27th president (1909- 1913) and later on (yes after his presidency, which also makes him the first US president to be a judge thereafter and also serve both positions) he became the 10th Chief Justice of the US (1921- 1930). William Taft was born in 1857. His father was a judge, which helped influence him to go into law. He was the Federal circuit judge when he was 34 and had dreams to serve on the supreme court. During former President William McKinley (our 25th president from 1897- 1901), William Taft was appointed by McKinley to serve as chairman of the Second Philippine Commission. He ended up becoming the first civilian governor of the Philippines. Later on, he left the Philippines and became former President Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of War (Teddy Roosevelt was our 26th president from 1901- 1909). After he served as president for 1 term, former president William Harding (29th president from 1921- 1923, unfortunately he had passed away during his 3rd term. His vice president, Calvin Coolidge ended up becoming president thereafter) made him Chief Justice in 1921, in which he served until he passed away in 1930. It was believed that his wife, Helen Taft (or Nellie, as that was what she was must commonly called) was the one who pushed her husband to become president. Without her pushing, it is believed that he most likely would have not gone down that path. She ended up passing away in 1943. William Howard Taft National Historic Site is where you can visit William Taft's home and small visitor center to read about some brief information about him and also watch a video that briefly covered his life. Visiting here is free, along with a docent lead tour. There is also a small parking lot available for free parking.Our tour guide was friendly and he was informative as he lead our group throughout the bottom floor of the home (the second floor and basement area is self guided with boards to read to learn more information). We had 4 young children on our tour (which made me laugh throughout with their comments, lol. Children truly are hilarious and are so transparent with their thoughts and feelings) that loved blurting out what they see in excitement, cutting off our tour guide while he talked, etc. But that didn't bother him and he was very patient to answer each of their questions. The tour itself was not very long, I think it only lasted about 20 minutes but you may ended up spending another 15- 20 minutes on the self guided portion of the home. And then another 20- 30 minutes in the visitor center (you definitely want to make sure you do watch the video). One thing that I thought was interesting that was not covered in the guided tour or on any of the boards that I read was about where William Taft was buried. I learned through my own research that he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia (very close to Washington DC).Now in order to be buried at this cemetery, you had to have been a veteran. Because he had served as Secretary of War, this was able to give him ability to be buried here. He ended up becoming the first president to be buried here (and then JFK was the second, in which he did serve during WWII). I wished Arlington Cemetery had mentioned that on the shuttle tour that you take but that tour in general is pretty poor and you can't understand the driver over the intercom used). When his wife passed away, Helen Taft ended up becoming the first, first lady to also be buried at Arlington Cemetery (and then Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was buried many years later). Overall, I enjoyed my visit and was surprised that this is the first presidential home that I have been to in which it is free to visit (I have gone to many presidential homes/ museums and they all charge an admission price).

William Howard Taft is the only president who later became a Supreme Court justice. This free tour of his home gives us a glimpse of his and his family's lives and accomplishments in the history of the United States and his native state of Ohio. As the 27th president he really doesn't get much attention and love for his achievements but you will be surprised by his contributions to our country. There is a free parking lot just past the house. Don't listen to your GPS that says the parking lot is on your right before passing the house. That's a hospital parking lot. The National Historic Site lot is past the house on the right. Oh, guided tours are on the hour or you can just take the self guided tour as I did.

When I arrived at a small parking lot that's easy to miss, the visitor center was closed (for a staff lunch break, apparently), I headed up to the house, which was open. Multiple floors of fairly extensive exhibits abound, and there is a lot of fairly detailed information about a president mostly known for his physical appearance and who I would not have associated with Cincinnati. But this is an interesting and important person (also Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) whose historical significance is certainly worth taking some time to ponder.This is a free NPS site. It may be that the visitor center offers some more and there seem to be guided tours at some point, but it still wasn't open when I left (despite the ranger at the house saying it would be by then). Regardless, it is a site worthy of preservation and a stop worth making, even if briefly.

We weaved up the hill to the Taft House a Greek Revival on Auburn Ave. We saw a :14 film about Taft & went on a self guided tour of his childhood house. I didn't realize after his presidency he became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. We walked through the front hall, parlor, library, piazza, dining room, parents & grandparents bedroom & nursery of the 6,000 square foot home. The rooms were filled with lots of artifacts and posters with information about Taft's life. We spent about an hour here and our visit was free. We parked in the free parking lot as well.

The staff here is incredible - friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful! The site consists of Taft's historic home and a neighboring education center. There is a small parking lot, and both parking and entry is free. We headed into the education center when we first arrived to get an overview, and the wonderful ranger got us situated - there is a short video available in the education center that the rangers can start on demand. The site offers two Junior Ranger programs, including the William Howard Taft House one and the new Junior Justice. Fun fact that the ranger told us when we were getting the kids set up with theirs - there is no age limit on the Junior Ranger materials, so anyone can request one. We took a short guided tour through the house, which was very informative and the Junior Ranger booklet on the house helped keep the kids engaged - the ranger flagged each room to pay close attention to and the books had some interactive options. Additional displays were offered on the top and bottom floors (3 story house - the tour took us through the first floor) to peruse. Additional information was available in the education center, including an interactive "talking" display. There is also a small gift shop. If you're collecting stamps for your National Parks Passport, they are set up right next to the desk in the visitors center. Great place to visit!

What a pleasant surprise the William Howard Taft National Historic Site turned out to be! It's free, first of all, and it's part of the national park system. So, if you happen to be a junior ranger or know one, you can get a stamp in your National Park Passport at the visitors' center. It's a very well-kept historic home and has quite a bit of information about Taft and his family. I had no idea that Ohio played such an important role in US politics, particularly between the Civil War and 1900. Though Taft seems to have had a tough presidency, his life was interesting and he started many of the Presidential firsts we all sort of take for granted. For instance, he was the first president to kick of baseball season by throwing the first pitch. I definitely recommend visiting this Mt. Auburn home and historic site if you are at all interested in history, and more specifically, Cincinnati's contribution to presidential history.

Taft was quite the interesting US President and this national historic site reflects this.Taft as a great diplomat, avid financial planner and was the first President to throw a first pitch in an MLB game The docent led tour is fantastic. Our guy Dennis was a walking encyclopedia of Taft memorabilia and events during Taft's presidency.We spent a few minutes with the Taft "actor / impersonator" in the new modern visitors center. Well done!!