Rutherford B Hayes Presidential Library & Museums

About The Museums And Grounds

The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums is the nation’s first Presidential library, opened to the public in 1916 and celebrated it’s centennial anniversary in 2016. It is located at Spiegel Grove at the corner of Hayes and Buckland avenues in Fremont, Ohio. The facility recently underwent a 1.3-million-dollar museum renovation and now features a new handicap accessible grand entrance to the museum.

New exhibits include interactive components that better tell the story of 19th U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes and First Lady Lucy Webb Hayes. The museum now has a Presidents Gallery, which has artifacts from other U.S. Presidents and has a replica of the Resolute Desk. The original is located in the Oval Office of the White House.

Visitors will experience the life of 19th U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes through guided tours of his 31-room mansion. Along your way you will learn of his careers as a Civil War soldier, an US Congressman, the Ohio governor and eventually President of the United States. Self-guided tours of the Hayes Museum/Library are available daily. Afterward take the time to follow in Ohio’s earliest residents by walking the historic & beautiful grounds of the President’s beloved Spiegel Grove estate, where both he and his wife Lucy are buried.

Additional Information And Maps

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums is located in Fremont, Ohio and is just a few miles from Exit 91 of the Ohio Turnpike. The museum is open year round although dates and hours may vary seasonally. Please verify times before travel, information shown here is updated regularly but may not reflect up-to-date pricing and hours.

• 20 minutes from the Lake Erie Island Ferry in Downtown Port Clinton

• 45 minutes to Cedar Point Amusement Park

• 45 minutes from downtown Toledo

• 90 minutes from downtown Cleveland

Rutherford B Hayes Presidential Library & Museums

Spiegel Grove in Fremont, Ohio, is the former home of President Rutherford Birchard Hayes. The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums currently occupies the site, which is open to the public under the direction of the Ohio History Connection, and includes Hayes’ 31-room mansion, a two-story museum, and the President and First Lady’s burial sites. Spiegel is the German word for mirror, and the home is named after pools of water that form on the estates grounds after a rain.

Spiegel Grove was constructed from 1859-1863. The homes original owner was Sardis Birchard, Hayess uncle and guardian, who used Spiegel Grove as a summer residence. Hayes became Spiegel Groves owner in 1873, and he chose to make this his permanent home. Upon completion of his presidency in 1881, Hayes expanded the home to make room for his 12,000 volume library, to provide additional room for guests, and also to install indoor plumbing. In 1889, Hayes ordered the construction of another addition to make room for his children and grandchildren who commonly visited. This final addition created a thirty-one room mansion. Both Hayes and his wife, Lucy Hayes, died at Spiegel Grove and are interred on the grounds.

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Rutherford Babe Hayes Is More Like It

A Google search for young Rutherford B. Hayes yields a surprising daguerreotype: a devastatingly handsome Hayes in the 1840s, when he was in his early 20s. Ohios homegrown 19th presidents smoldering eyes, swath of wavy hair, dapper suit and hint of a grin have been making the rounds onlinewith good reason. That middle initial should stand for Babe.

People are surprised by his good looks because theyve most often seen Rutherford in his presidential years, says Christie M. Weininger, executive director of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums.

But the picture wasnt intended as a Victorian thirst trap. Rutherford liked to walk a straight and narrow path, Weininger says.

While Hayes was boisterous and enjoyed socializing, he wasnt a ladies man. He married Lucy Webb at 30 and remained a steadfast husband. But that hasnt discouraged admirers from eyeing the 180-year-old daguerreotypeor from purchasing a candle in his likeness.

Its unclear whether theyll snap up the new Hayes bobblehead from the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, as it portrays him in his later, hairier years.

Megan Wood, director of the Cultural Resources Division of Ohio History Connection, says he didnt actually change that much. If he had more manscaping and a hipster vest, he may still have been a hottie when he was older, she says.

This story is from the April 2022 issue of Columbus Monthly.

Library Manuscript Collections Photographs And Artifacts/objects

Honoring the memory of Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th U.S. president, the Hayes family established a presidential library, the first in the United States. Opened in 1916, this library preserves President Hayes’s personal library along with archival material from his military and political career, particularly his presidency . Over the years, the staff has expanded the collection to over 90,000 books which reflect Hayes’ special interests, including genealogy, local history, and the Gilded Age period in which he lived.The Manuscripts Division contains more than 6000 linear feet of documentary material. For manuscript collections inquiries please contact: Curator of Manuscripts, Julie Mayle, Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Spiegel Grove, Fremont, Ohio 43420. 1/800-998-7737, ext. 239. Email:

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Rutherford B Hayes Presidential Center

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The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center is a complex comprising several buildings related to the life and presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes. It is the first presidential library, built in 1916, and one of three such libraries for US presidents during the 19th century.

Presidential Library And Museum

Hayes son Webb opened the Hayes Presidential Library and Museum in 1916. It celebrated its centennial in 2016. The museum contains two sections the upper floors concentrate on Hayes presidency and the lower floors on his early days and Civil War service.

Hayes most famous quote is He serves his party best who serves his county best. You will seeHayes philosophy throughout the museum.

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