Monday, September 04, 2017

Quick! Who Was Our 27th President?

If you are a history buff or have had to memorize the list of Presidents, you will know that William Howard Taft was the 27th U.S. President.  Today we visited his boyhood home in Cincinnati, OH.  In the upper left corner is the house as it was when Taft lived there.

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The house as it looks today, has been faithfully restored to the way it was when Taft lived there as a child and young adult.

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When Taft’s father Alphonso moved here the house ended at the doorway at the back of the stairs.  The house two-story brick house was of popular Greek Revival design—square, symmetrical, with decorative trim and a small porch.  The backyard fell toward the Ohio river far below.  Inside, the house had  four rooms down and four rooms up, divided by a hallway.  Alphonso modernized the plumbing and put up a large addition in the rear to accommodate hos growing family. 

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Few of the Taft family possessions remain.  This desk was Alphonso’s.

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This picture of William, about 3 years old, shows him in a gown.  All children of his time wore gowns until they were totally potty trained.  At that time the girls’ wore longer dresses and the boys graduated to short pants.

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William Howard Taft was a man of many accomplishments, but he was most proud that he never compromised his integrity during his life and that he achieved his life-long dream of sitting on the Supreme Court.

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The William Howard Taft National Historic Site is the only memorial to the nation’s 27th President and 10th Chief Justice.  The Taft house is in the Mount Auburn section of Cincinnati at 2038 Auburn Ave.  The park consists of the house and the adjacent Taft Education Center.  Staff members conduct tours of the historically furnished rooms in the house, but visitors are free to wander the other rooms and examine the display exhibits on Taft’s early years and his political career.

We learn more history this way!

Louise and Duane 



1 comment:

where's weaver said...

Well now I learned something new. I never knew he was a judge on the Supreme Court. Very interesting indeed.