20. James Garfield
The last of the log cabin presidents, James A. Garfield was born November 19, 1831, in Orange Township, Ohio. Now the affluent Moreland Hills suburb of Cleveland, the area at the time of Garfield’s birth was the frontier region of Ohio’s Western Reserve. Garfield’s father died before Garfield was two years old, but the family remained on the homestead where mother and children struggled to make ends meet. James helped with the farm work, attended school, and read as much as possible as a youth. At sixteen he worked for a canal boat, but had an unfortunate tendency to fall in the canal, and he eventually returned to school. Garfield’s original birth home is gone, but the Moreland Hills Historical Society maintains a replica of the cabin at the site.
-Andrew B. Leiter
It was the Garfield site that prompted me to buy a GPS unit. This was early in the project with printed-out Google maps and a flip-phone. I was on an overnight foray into Ohio and had to be back in town for something. I didn't manage to find the site before time ran out. I returned with my trusty Tom-Tom in hand and found the lovely reproduction cabin. It is still difficult to photograph the reproductions that have nothing to do with the president other than an approximation of appearance. Sometimes, I just can't help myself and make details of the reproduced home. Other times, I try to focus on something from the site with the home blurred out in the background. Both approaches are represented here.
-Matthew Albritton