Amazing ame interesting Grant lived his last weeks where In the area I grew up! The overlook on the... read more
Amazing ame interesting Grant lived his last weeks where In the area I grew up! The overlook on the... read more
The tours are conducted by volunteers who are fully versed on the life and final years of Ulysses... read more
Scenery is beautiful, very educational and they have great programs throughout the season. Go and you won't regret it.
After living in the area all of my 63 years, I finally managed to visit this historic site. The tour was of the first floor only. Our guide was knowledgeable. The house is as it was the day Grant died and after at the funeral service there. Quite impressive. Friendly visitor center reception with good introduction video. Surrounded by a NYS prison property, now closed. Closed Monday and Tuesdays. (open Tuesdays during racing meet.)
Michael was our tour guide and provided a great experience for a tour. Our tour started with a great conversation seated on the porch of the Grant cottage. Inside the cottage Michael took the time to point out many interesting facts and stories of President Grants time at the cottage. This site is a must see tour for any history buff. Make sure you take time to experience the surrounding view from the mountain top, the same view President Grant enjoyed days before his death at the cottage.
We really enjoyed our tour of the Grant Cottage. The guide did an excellent job providing the history of Grant's stay at the cottage. The movie at the visitors center provided a good overview before our walking tour. I would highly recommend this if you are visiting the Saratoga Springs area.
If you are a fan at all of U.S. History...I encourage you to visit the Grant Cottage on top of Mt. McGregor near Saratoga Springs. In the 19th Century U.S. Grant was a hugely popular figure who not only led the Union to victory in the Civil War but also served as a two term president. He was one of the first true "rock stars" of his age because photography began in his era...and the newspaper accounts of his exploits and victories were sources of inspiration nationwide (well...the Union parts!). Grant's reputation declined in the 100 years after his death because most of the successful Civil War historians were Southerners who fostered the "Lost Cause" romantic story of the Confederecy's downfall. In fact, Grant was hugely responsible for winning the war having captured two entire armies (Vicksburg and Appomattox) en route to also defeating Robert E. Lee. One photo of Grant during the war showed him smoking a cigar--the photo went "viral" for the day appearing in all the papers. As a result Grant received boxes of cigars from the public every day in the post...and being a man to waste nothing...felt he had to smoke 5-6 a day. Unfortunately this habit led him to develop throat cancer in 1884. While living in NYC his doctors advised him to get out of town for the summer to escape the heat and noxious air...and the Cottage was perfect. He spent his last months at the cottage and finished his remarkable memoirs there...which many consider the gold standard for military biography. The Cottage is almost eerily unchanged from the day Grant died there. Same furniture...carpet...wallhangings...and even floral pieces sent to the family upon his death (in those days floral arrangements were encased in beeswax to keep them fresh). On the day we visited a very passionate volunteer guide walked us thru the house after we had visited a small welcome center with a brief video of Grant's life. Strongly encourage you to visit the Cottage is you love history...if just looking for entertainment...this is not the right cup of tea.
Grant didn't spend much time here, but finished his famous Memoirs here as he was dying--the memoirs, published on generous terms by Mark Twain, provided money for Grant's family. The cottage preserves the chair Grant was famously photographed in during his last days, the bed he died in, even several floral arrangements from his funeral. A well-informed tour guide led us through the place with a wealth of information. Grant's story is of interest even if you aren't a Civil War buff--his failures were as marked as his successes, and his brave struggle to finish his memoirs as he was dying of throat cancer is inspirational. And there is a wonderful view--one he much admired--from an overlook five minutes from the house.