At Home with the Presidents

In honor of Presidents’ Day, my Monday post will show the trio of homes that I have visited. I have yet to scan the 1971 negatives from my childhood trip to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, so this vintage shot will have to do. Located in Alexandra, Virginia, the Palladian style home began construction in 1734 and went through a number of expansions and remodels over the next 45 years, yielding the present structure that guests can tour today.  

The closest you can get to seeing Washington himself is in Orlando, where his animatronic performs daily in the Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World:



I’ve been to Monicello twice; once in 1971 and then returned again (with my own camera!) in 2017.



Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. President, began work on his neoclassic home in 1768, with a number of expansions and revisions that continued on until his death in 1826. 



He is also represented in the Hall of Presidents:



Want to see a panorama of the Hall of Presidents? Here you go:



I’ve never been to the home of our sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln, but I have visited him at Disneyland’s Opera House:



…and seen his inferior counterpart in Orlando:



I also happened to catch him at the now defunct Tresor Gallery on Royal Street in New Orleans in 2015:



Jumping forward to our thirty-seventh president, Richard Nixon, I visited his birthplace in 2005.



Located on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, it is a very modest dwelling, built in 1912 from a mail order construction kit by his father, Frank Nixon.



What better place for the then vice president to celebrate the christening of the Disneyland Monorail in 1959 than at the Carnation Ice Cream Parlour? He is surrounded by his wife Pat, Louise the waitress, and daughter Tricia Nixon. General Manager Mr. Knowles seem to be giving an unspecified direction to the photographer from the background.



Now I’m craving an ice cream sundae.

See more Daveland photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley at Mount Vernon

Here’s a 1938 shot of Shirley on the lawn of George Washington’s home Mount Vernon, located in Alexandria, Virginia. Holding the camera at left is her publicity agent, Wendell “Doc” Bishop. As Shirley expert supreme, Rita Dubas, relayed in her book Shirley Temple: A Pictorial History of the World's Greatest Child Star:

[He] acted as press protector, buddy, and often personal assistant. His job was not only to garner media exposure for his star, but to make sure she was content on the set and off—which often meant that he would find himself involved in a game of “Squares,” or acting as Deputy to Shirley’s Texas Ranger.

What was Shirley doing at Mount Vernon? She was enjoying a trek across America during her summer vacation. To round out the post, here are a few vintage shots of Mount Vernon from the 1950s:







This photo of Shirley on the set of “Just Around the Corner” shows her wearing the same dress/jumper combo:



Shirley’s trip was big news; in fact it even made the cover of LIFE magazine!



Here’s the original shot used on the cover, taken at a wheat field in Junction City, Kansas:



See more Mount Vernon photos at my main website.

Traveling Thursdays: Valley Forge

234 years ago, George Washington and his troops weathered the cold by camping in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Only about 1/3 of the soldiers had shoes, and many of their feet were leaving bloody footprints. Though construction of more than a thousand huts provided shelter, they did little to help with malnourishment, inadequate clothing, and the spread of disease and sickness.

Can you imagine spending the winter in one of these?





Washington's Headquarters is definitely a bit nicer:





What a kitchen!



The site of the encampment became a Pennsylvania state park in 1893. Today, the park features historical and recreated buildings and structures, memorials, and a newly renovated visitor center. A chapel was built in 1903 as a memorial to Washington. An adjoining carillon of 58 bells represents all U.S. states and territories. It resides in a tower built by the Daughters of the American Revolution.







Nearby is the National Memorial Arch, designed by Paul Philippe Cret, as a simplified version of the Triumphal Arch of Titus in Rome. Dedication ceremonies were conducted on June 19, 1917. It bears this inscription:

Naked and starving as they are
We cannot enough admire
The incomparable Patience and Fidelity
of the Soldiery
–George Washington





Even away from Disneyland, I still love the details:



See more Valley Forge photos on my Valley Forge web page.