Buchanan's Birthplace State Park
Encyclopedia
Buchanan's Birthplace State Park is a 18.5 acres (7.5 ha) Pennsylvania state park near Cove Gap
, in Peters Township
, Franklin County
, Pennsylvania
in the United States. The park is on Pennsylvania Route 16
along Tuscarora Mountain
. Buchanan's Birthplace State Park was created from land donated to the state by Harriet Lane
in honor of her uncle, the 15th President of the United States
, James Buchanan
.
s and a number of picnic table
s. Drinking water and two restrooms are located near the picnic area. A pyramid
built with native stone stands at the site of the cabin
where President Buchanan was born. Buck Run runs through the park and has a population of native trout
for fishing
. Tuscarora Trail
, a bypass trail for the Appalachian Trail
, passes just to the west of the park.
. He was born in a log cabin on property owned by his father. The complex was known as Stony Batter, named for the family home in Donegal
, Ireland
At the time of Buchanan's birth the Cove Gap area was on the edge of the American frontier. Today it is a quite isolated area, but when President Buchanan was born it was a center of frontier commerce. Stony Batter was a complex of cabins, barn
s, stables, storehouses, a general store
and an orchard
. Pioneers travelling from the East Coast through Cove Gap stopped at Stony Batter to rest and restore their supplies. Buchanan lived at Stony Batter until he was six years old, when his father moved his business to Mercersburg
.
. She led the effort to create a memorial to her uncle. She made several efforts to purchase his birthplace, Stony Batter, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Upon her death, in 1895, the responsibility for building the monument was transferred to a lawyer
from Baltimore, Lawrason Riggs and a banker from Washington, D.C.
, E. Francis Riggs. After years of trying to purchase Stony Batter, the Riggs' were finally successful in 1907. The monument in the shape of a pyramid was built of native stone. Wyatt and Nolting, an architectural firm from Baltimore, designed the memorial. The pyramid is 38 feet (11.6 m) square and 31 feet (9.4 m) high. It is made of 50 short tons (44.6 LT) of American Gray Granite
and 250 tons of mortar and native stones. Construction of the pyramid began in October 1907 with a work force of 20 men. They built a small railroad to haul the heavy materials from the mountainside to the construction site. The work force grew to 35 men and the monument was completed by late winter with a surrounding iron railing. The Pennsylvania General Assembly
of 1911 accepted the monument from the trust of Harriet Lane Johnston and Buchanan's Birthplace State Park was formally established.
Cove Gap, Pennsylvania
Cove Gap is a village in Peters Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Buchanan's Birthplace State Park is located here and honors the 15th US president James Buchanan, who was born in this village on April 23, 1791....
, in Peters Township
Peters Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania
Peters Township is a township in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,251 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 56.0 square miles , of which, 55.9 square miles of it is land and...
, Franklin County
Franklin County, Pennsylvania
As of the census of 2000, there were 129,313 people, 50,633 households, and 36,405 families residing in the county. The population density was 168 people per square mile . There were 53,803 housing units at an average density of 70 per square mile...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in the United States. The park is on Pennsylvania Route 16
Pennsylvania Route 16
Pennsylvania Route 16 is a long east–west state route located in southern Pennsylvania, United States. The western terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 522 in McConnellsburg. The eastern terminus is at the Mason-Dixon Line in Liberty Township, where PA 16 continues into Maryland as...
along Tuscarora Mountain
Tuscarora Mountain
Tuscoarora Mountain is a mountain ridge of the Appalachian Mountains in the Ridge and Valley province in central Pennsylvania. It reaches its highest point on Big Mountain at 2,458 feet above sea level....
. Buchanan's Birthplace State Park was created from land donated to the state by Harriet Lane
Harriet Lane
Harriet Rebecca Lane Johnston , niece of lifelong bachelor United States President James Buchanan, acted as First Lady of the United States from 1857 to 1861. She was one of the few women to hold the position of First Lady while not being married to the President.-Early life:Harriet Lane's family...
in honor of her uncle, the 15th President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
.
Recreation
Recreation facilities are limited. There are two pavilionPavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
s and a number of picnic table
Picnic table
A picnic table is a modified table with attached benches, designed for eating a meal outdoors .-Uses:...
s. Drinking water and two restrooms are located near the picnic area. A pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
built with native stone stands at the site of the cabin
Log cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
where President Buchanan was born. Buck Run runs through the park and has a population of native trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
for fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
. Tuscarora Trail
Tuscarora Trail
The Tuscarora Trail is a long-distance hiking trail that is under development. It splits off from the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, passes through West Virginia and Maryland, then rejoins the Appalachian Trail near Marysville, Pennsylvania...
, a bypass trail for the Appalachian Trail
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...
, passes just to the west of the park.
Buchanan's Birthplace
President James Buchanan was born on April 23, 1791 near the village of Cove GapCove Gap, Pennsylvania
Cove Gap is a village in Peters Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Buchanan's Birthplace State Park is located here and honors the 15th US president James Buchanan, who was born in this village on April 23, 1791....
. He was born in a log cabin on property owned by his father. The complex was known as Stony Batter, named for the family home in Donegal
Donegal
Donegal or Donegal Town is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Its name, which was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall, translates from Irish as "stronghold of the foreigners" ....
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
At the time of Buchanan's birth the Cove Gap area was on the edge of the American frontier. Today it is a quite isolated area, but when President Buchanan was born it was a center of frontier commerce. Stony Batter was a complex of cabins, barn
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
s, stables, storehouses, a general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
and an orchard
Orchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
. Pioneers travelling from the East Coast through Cove Gap stopped at Stony Batter to rest and restore their supplies. Buchanan lived at Stony Batter until he was six years old, when his father moved his business to Mercersburg
Mercersburg, Pennsylvania
Mercersburg is a borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, southwest of Harrisburg. Originally called Black Town, it was incorporated in 1831. In 1900, 956 people lived here, and in 1910, 1,410 people lived here...
.
Monument
Harriet Lane Johnston was President Buchanan's niece and since he never married she served as his First LadyFirst Lady
First Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...
. She led the effort to create a memorial to her uncle. She made several efforts to purchase his birthplace, Stony Batter, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Upon her death, in 1895, the responsibility for building the monument was transferred to a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
from Baltimore, Lawrason Riggs and a banker from Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, E. Francis Riggs. After years of trying to purchase Stony Batter, the Riggs' were finally successful in 1907. The monument in the shape of a pyramid was built of native stone. Wyatt and Nolting, an architectural firm from Baltimore, designed the memorial. The pyramid is 38 feet (11.6 m) square and 31 feet (9.4 m) high. It is made of 50 short tons (44.6 LT) of American Gray Granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
and 250 tons of mortar and native stones. Construction of the pyramid began in October 1907 with a work force of 20 men. They built a small railroad to haul the heavy materials from the mountainside to the construction site. The work force grew to 35 men and the monument was completed by late winter with a surrounding iron railing. The Pennsylvania General Assembly
Pennsylvania General Assembly
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times , the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. Since the Constitution of 1776, written by...
of 1911 accepted the monument from the trust of Harriet Lane Johnston and Buchanan's Birthplace State Park was formally established.
Nearby state parks
The following state parks are within 30 miles (48.3 km) of Buchanan's Birthplace State Park:- Berkeley Springs State ParkBerkeley Springs State ParkBerkeley Springs State Park is a state park located in the center of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. The centerpieces of this park are the spa facilities. These waters are currently and historically billed as having medicinal or restorative powers, generally taken internally for digestive...
(West VirginiaWest VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
) - Cacapon State Park (West Virginia)
- Cowans Gap State ParkCowans Gap State ParkCowans Gap State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Todd Township, Fulton County and Metal Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is largely surrounded by Buchanan State Forest in Allens Valley just off Pennsylvania Route 75 near Fort Loudon.-French and Indian...
(Fulton CountyFulton County, PennsylvaniaFulton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 14,845.Fulton County was created on April 19, 1850, from part of Bedford County and named for inventor Robert Fulton.Its county seat is McConnellsburg....
) - Caledonia State ParkCaledonia State ParkCaledonia State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Greene Township, Franklin County and Franklin Township, Adams County in Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is named for an iron furnace, Caledonia Furnace, that was owned by Thaddeus Stevens beginning in 1837. Today the park is known...
(AdamsAdams County, PennsylvaniaAdams County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 101,407. It was created on January 22, 1800, from part of York County and named in honor of the second President of the United States, John Adams...
and Franklin Counties) - Fort Frederick State ParkFort Frederick State ParkFort Frederick State Park is a Maryland state park surrounding the restored Fort Frederick, a fort from the French and Indian War and American Revolutionary War. The park is south of the town of Big Pool on the Potomac River; the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal runs through the park grounds...
(MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
) - Greenbrier State ParkGreenbrier State ParkGreenbrier State Park is a Maryland state park on South Mountain in Washington County.-External links:* - official site...
(Maryland) - Mont Alto State ParkMont Alto State ParkMont Alto State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on in Quincy Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is on Pennsylvania Route 233 one mile from Mont Alto.-Mont Alto Iron Company:...
(Franklin County) - South Mountain State ParkSouth Mountain State ParkSouth Mountain State Park is a state park in Washington and Frederick county, Maryland. The park encompasses nearly the entire length of South Mountain through Maryland and is contiguous with several other national, state and local parks on the mountain, including the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal...
(Maryland) - Trough Creek State ParkTrough Creek State ParkTrough Creek State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Cass, Penn and Todd Townships, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The majority of the park is in Todd Township along Pennsylvania Route 994, east of the unincorporated village of Entriken. Huntingdon is the nearest...
(Huntingdon CountyHuntingdon County, PennsylvaniaHuntingdon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. In 2010, its population was 45,913.Huntingdon County was created on September 20, 1787, from part of Bedford County. Its county seat is Huntingdon.-Geography:According to the U.S...
) - Warriors Path State ParkWarriors Path State ParkWarriors Path State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on in Liberty Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is named for the Great Indian Warpath that was used by the Iroquois in war raids with the Cherokee and other tribes. Warriors Path State Park is surrounded on three...
(Bedford CountyBedford County, PennsylvaniaBedford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 49,762. The county seat is Bedford. It is part of the Altoona, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
)