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Calvin Coolidge Homestead District
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The Coolidge Homestead, 1976.
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| Location: | Plymouth Notch, Vermont |
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| Built: | 1872 |
| Governing body: | State |
| NRHP Reference#: | 66000794 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP: | October 15, 1966[1] |
| Designated NHLD: | June 23, 1965[2] |
The Coolidge Homestead, also known as Calvin Coolidge Homestead District or President Calvin Coolidge State Historical Site, was the childhood home of the thirtieth President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge and the place where he took the presidential oath of office. Located in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, Coolidge lived there from age four in 1876 to 1887, when he departed for Black River Academy for education.
The home, itself, was bought by his father, John Coolidge, who expanded the home from a simple 1 1⁄2-story farm house to its present size and appearance today.
Despite living most of his life in Northampton, Massachusetts, Coolidge often returned to the homestead to visit his family and was staying there when President Warren G. Harding, died. Coolidge was sworn in by his father in the family parlor after taking the Oath of Office for the presidency. Due to his father's refusal to modernize the house, it remains to this day in the same condition, and in some cases with the same furnishings, as it was the night Coolidge took the oath. The Inaugural Room itself is behind glass, but a visitor can stand in an alcove and see the lamp, Bible, and table that were used in the ceremony, all placed in their historic positions.
The Homestead District includes:[3]
The district was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.[2][3]
Today, the Coolidge Homestead is part of the Calvin Coolidge State Historical Site overseen by the state of Vermont. As far as possible the buildings have been returned to the conditions they were in when Coolidge was president. A simple video and picture display of his life is shown in the barn. The rooms in Coolidge Hall that he used as a Summer White House in 1924 have been restored and a video of contemporary newsreel film added.
It is located west and north of Vermont Route 100A in Plymouth Notch, and open daily from 9:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M, late May to mid-October. Directly across the road from the buildings are the Coolidge family graves. Four generations of the family, including the President, are buried here. The Calvin Coolidge State Park, a developed part of the Coolidge State Forest, is also close by.[4]
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