Grandpa's Garden

Grandpa's Garden. William Howard Taft National Historic Site. , Looking out over the land that was once the Taft family backyard, visualize an orchard, a vegetable garden, a pasture for livestock, and a barn and stable. A cow and her young calf grazed in the pasture, while a horse and carriage rolled down a dusty dirt path. If you were neighbors of the Taft family back in the late 1860s, how would your backyard compare to that of that of the Tafts?, Spacious back lots, like that of the Taft family, were often used to raise crops. The Taft's garden and animals provided the family with fruits, vegetables, milk, and honey to supplement market goods. Young William Taft even helped his grandfather tend the garden for an allowance. Grandpa Peter Taft took pride in his bee hives. What purpose do you think the bees served on the property?, During the Taft family's residence here, they enjoyed the rural suburban setting and relaxed atmosphere of the back lot. Today, the garden, pasture, and outbuildings are gone, nearly 30 feet of fill covers the original site., [Caption:] The Taft property went all the way to Young Street.