| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — Campaign Office |
| | This small building buzzed with activity during the 1880 presidential campaign. Garfield changed this library into the headquarters for his political supporters and a meeting room for the press who covered the election campaign that summer and fall.
With telegraph wire strung to it, the "Campaign Office" also served as Garfield's communication center. Here, on November 2, 1880, James A. Garfield received the telegraph message that he had been chosen President in one of the closest races in United States history. — Map (db m49010) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — Carriage House |
| | In 1893, twelve years after James A. Garfield's assassination, Lucretia Garfield directed the construction of the Queen Anne-style carriage house off to the left. About 1900, the structure's interior was remodeled and an extension added on the back.
Inside were horse stalls, a tack room, and carriage storage. The second floor contained a hayloft as well as a two-room apartment for a coachman. Today, the carriage house contains the site's visitor center and exhibits about the life of James A. Garfield. — Map (db m49001) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — Expanding the House |
| | The first house here, built in 1831-32 by James Dickey, stood only 1 1/2-stories tall. In 1876, Congressman James A. Garfield bought the Dickey farm and, in 1880, had the house extensively remodeled. By raising its roof and expanding its outer walls, Garfield's workers doubled the house's size around the original structure.
After President Garfield was assassinated in 1881, his wife Lucretia received many public donations. In 1885 she used a portion of this money to add a third floor and . . . — Map (db m49132) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — Front Porch Campaign |
| | From July to November 1880, Republican candidate James A. Garfield staged his presidential campaign from his home. Using this porch as his rostrum, Garfield delivered dozens of speeches - some more than two hours long - to more than 15,000 supporters during the campaign.
Garfield's "Front Porch Campaign" was a new approach. Before 1880, presidential candidates usually did not get personally involved in their own campaigns; they typically let their party's best speakers campaign for them. . . . — Map (db m49005) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — Garfield's Farm |
| | This barn, originally locate near Mentor Avenue, was built for James A. Garfield in 1877. Although part of a larger barn complex during Garfield's time, the horse barn was relocated here. After Garfield's death, his widow, Lucretia, had the carriage house built in 1893 to shelter the farm's horses.
Just before purchasing this farm in 1876, Garfield wrote, "I must get a place where my boys can learn to work, and where I can myself have some exercise, where I can touch the earth and get some . . . — Map (db m49093) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — Gasholder Building |
| | In 1885, workers discovered an abundant supply of natural gas at Lawnfield and built a stone-and-brick gasholder building. A few years later, workers drilled a new 800-foot-deep gas well and, in 1893, reduced the gasholder building by one-half when building the Carriage House. With this system, Lucretia Garfield owned her own gas works for her household lighting, heating, and cooking fixtures.
Inside, a five-foot-deep metal storage tank held the natural gas until it was piped into the main . . . — Map (db m49120) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — 2-43 — James A. Garfield and the Civil War |
| | His oratorical powers made him a master recruiter.
His willingness to learn earned him important field commands.
His talents for organization won him praise, distinction and the rank of Major General at the Battle of Chickamauga.
His gallant and meritorious military successes launched him into national politics and the presidency. — Map (db m39864) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — James A. Garfield's "Lawnfield" |
| | In 1876, James A. Garfield bought this 118-acre farm in the rural village of Mentor, Ohio, and soon purchased an additional 40 acres. Over the next four years, Garfield doubled the size of the house and made it a home for his wife, Lucretia, their family, and Garfield's mother, Eliza. During the 1880 presidential campaign, reporters called Garfield's home "Lawnfield."
After President Garfield's assassination in 1881, Lawnfield gradually changed. Lucretia sold about half the farm in 1908, . . . — Map (db m49084) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — Lawnfield |
| |
Home of
James A. Garfield
Twentieth President of the
United States of America
"How sweet and inviting the
dear home beckons me away among
the green fields of Mentor."
From a letter written by
James Garfield to his wife
Lucretia on May 29, 1877 — Map (db m49085) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — Marsh Settlement |
| | The first settlement in this county was made near this site in 1797 and was known as Marsh Settlement. The early residents were: Jesse Phelps, Hosmer Merry and the families of Jared Ward, Moses Parks, Charles Parker and Ebenezer Merry.
For several years Ebenezer Merry's cabin was the voting place for Painesville Township which included Kirtland, Mentor, Concord, Leroy, Perry, Painesville, Chardon, Hambden and Mountville. — Map (db m49141) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — 17-43 — Mentor Lagoons |
| | For over 200 years, the Mentor Lagoons have had a major impact on northeastern Ohio and its people. Located on the site of a large estuary where the Grand River once flowed into Lake Erie, the area evolved into a large marsh. It was here in 1797 that Charles Parker, a member of Moses Cleaveland's survey party, platted lands for the Connecticut Land Company and established the "Marsh Settlement," the first in what later became Lake County. Throughout the twentieth century, attempts were made to . . . — Map (db m43748) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — Mentor Lagoons Water Trail |
| | [History related excerpts from the marker]
Natural Shoreline of Lake Erie
The Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve's 1.5-mile shoreline represents the longest stretch of publicly accessible natural beach in Ohio. Because it is one of the last remnants of a wild beach in the state, it harbors a very specialized plant community...
Bridge to Nowhere
In 1928, the Lake County Commissioners started construction of this bridge to link Lakeshore Boulevard with a new housing development . . . — Map (db m49134) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — Mentor Veterans Memorial |
| | The City of Mentor and George E. Hayward V.F.W. Post 9295 are proud to dedicate this memorial in tribute to those who gallantly served our country and to those currently serving in the Armed Forces. The American flag proudly represents the strongest symbol of this country and flies above the POW/MIA flag. The POW/MIA flag remembers military prisoners of war and pay homage to those missing in action. The military flags of our country represent the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard. . . . — Map (db m49133) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — Railroad Connection |
| | This dirt lane once led to the farm's northern fields and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad tracks, about 3/4 mile from here.
During the 1880 presidential campaign, the railroad ran special trains that stopped at Garfield's Farm. From this special train stop, thousands of supporters walked up this lane to listen to speeches by Congressman James A. Garfield - the Republican candidate for President of the United States.
[Photo 1 caption reads] Locomotive Number 53 of the Lake . . . — Map (db m49119) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — 19-43 — Rose Capital of the Nation |
| | From the 1920s through the 1970s, Mentor was recognized as the Rose Capital of the Nation. Lake effect climate, a variety of soils, and abundant water made Mentor ideal for growing roses. Over a dozen growers produced about five million plants a year from their fields in Mentor. The Civic Center Complex was once a massive field of roses, and streets such as Tea Rose, Wyant, and Rosebud were named in honor of the blossoms that grew so abundantly here. Notable growers include Gerard K. Klyn, the . . . — Map (db m43749) HM |
| Ohio (Lake County), Mentor — Windmill |
| | The Garfield family' windmill towered 60 feet above its stone base. Lucretia had the original tower built in 1894 to overcome problems with an old polluted well and a gas engine water pump she had installed in 1885. The new tower provided the property with a "feature," a common trait of Cleveland area estates.
The Garfields' windmill pumped water into a 500-barrel holding tank in the windmill tower. From there, the water was gravity-fed into a 300-gallon, galvanized holding tank on the . . . — Map (db m49121) HM |
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