Last updated: April 6, 2022
Place
Carriage House and Horse Barn
National Park Service
Quick Facts
Location:
James A. Garfield National Historic Site
Significance:
Carriage House and Horse Barn
Designation:
Visitor Center
Amenities
33 listed
Accessible Rooms, Audio Description, Automated External Defibrillator (AED), Baby Changing Station, Benches/Seating, Bicycle - Rack, Captioned Media, Cellular Signal, Electrical Outlet/Cell Phone Charging, Entrance Passes for Sale, Fire Extinguisher, First Aid Kit Available, First Aid/Medical Care Available, Gifts/Souvenirs/Books, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information, Information - Maps Available, Information - Park Newspaper Available, Information - Ranger/Staff Member Present, Information Kiosk/Bulletin Board, Parking - Auto, Parking - Bus/RV, Permits Issued, Picnic Table, Restroom, Restroom - Accessible, Tactile Exhibit, Theater/Auditorium, Ticket Sales, Toilet - Flush, Water - Bottle-Filling Station, Wheelchair Accessible, Wheelchairs Available
After President James A. Garfield's death in 1881, Mrs. Garfield began to transform the farm into more of a country estate. The construction of the Carriage House and Horse Barn in 1893 was one of many changes made.
"On April 24, 1893, Lucretia signed 'Article of Agreement' with J.A. Reaugh and Son of Cleveland for 'all the carpenter work and glazing' for a 'frame barn,' a project to be finished by mid-June...."
The building was shaped like the letter, L which reflected Mrs. Garfield’s sense of style even in such practical buildings. Mrs. Garfield designed the building with two purposes in mind: 1. to house the carriages and 2. to provide stalls for the horses. The carriage horses were different from their farm horses in that they were more majestic looking.This was a 2-story structure with the top floor used for storing hay, which was dropped down through a shoot, and an apartment for workers.
The building fell into disrepair and was overgrown with shrubs and bushes. In fact, if you visited the home before the restoration in the lated 1990s you would not have necessarily relaized that it was here at all.
The National Park Service did a multi-million dollar restoration to the property and besides the main home, campaign office, this building was repaired and converted into the site's Visitor Center. The horse stalls were converted to exhibit spaces, but a feed box and stall doors are still visible. The brick floor inside the Carriage House is original and the site movie is shown there today. One of the stories told is about one of Garfield’s horses, named Mollie. One day Mollie was in her stall and she kicked the stall so hard that the indentation of her hoof can still be seen today.