Tucked away in rural Vermont, the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site is a gem with a freaking cheese factory!
- President: Calvin Coolidge
- Location: Plymouth Notch, Vermont
- Operated By: Vermont Division for Historical Preservation
- When Visited: July 6, 2017
- Who with: My friend, Sara
- Presidential Significance: Includes Coolidge’s birthplace, first inauguration site, two homes he lived in, and other buildings and businesses owned by his family, one of which served as a “Summer White House.” As a bonus, the cemetery where Coolidge is buried is just half a mile down the road.
- Pre-Visit Reading: Coolidge by Amity Shlaes
July 4th, is a significant date in presidential history.
Of course, on July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, a key step to creating an independent country for presidents to lead. Exactly 50 years later, the author of that document and his fellow ex-president and frenemy died, just hours apart. Five years later, a third president passed away on this date. And a mere 187 years after that, I posted my first entry on this blog where I write about places I’ve been to.
But somewhere in the middle of all that history, there was a single president born on July 4, and that president was Calvin Coolidge. If you were asked to name the first presidents that come to your mind, Coolidge’s name probably wouldn’t be one of them. A taciturn man with a fairly uneventful presidency, Coolidge is one of those presidents that tends to blend into the background, but of all the presidential history sites I’ve visited, the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site stands out as one of my favorites.
I visited the Coolidge historic site about a year ago, during a New England trip I went on with my friend, Sara. When I travel with others, it’s important to strike the right balance. Most people I travel with are on board for some presidential history, but I know I’ll be testing their patience if I drag them to everything I want to do. I originally had offered to just visit Coolidge’s gravesite and then maybe make a quick stop at the gift shop, but Sara said she was cool with doing the full tour, so it was on!
There weren’t many people at the Coolidge historic site the day we visited (a Thursday), but this is not surprising since it was really in the middle of nowhere. This isn’t a place you might stumble upon; this is a place you go to on purpose. I was happy to hear that the place was packed a couple days earlier to celebrate Independence Day and Coolidge’s birthday.
What makes this site so charming is that it’s rather isolated and not just a building or a single estate, but a (very) small town that looks basically the way it did a hundred years ago. And it’s in Vermont, which is gorgeous. And there’s a working cheese factory on site. A cheese factory!
At the site there’s a post office, a school, barns, houses, a general store, and the cheese factory. The store and the cheese factory were owned by Coolidge’s father and are still in operation today. You can explore a bit on your own and are free to purchase items from the stores, but to go inside the Coolidge homes, you have to take the tour.
Besides Sara and I, there were only two other people on our tour, a couple who also happened to be visiting from Florida. Our guide started by apologizing for the weather, which was cool and comfortable. We all assured her this was far preferable to the death oven that is Florida in July. Or Florida at any time.
With that, we set off our our tour. As different topics came up and questions were asked, the tour guide and my fellow tourists were super impressed when I shared my knowledge, like that Calvin Coolidge Jr. died young after hurting his toe playing tennis, or that James Monroe was the third president to die on July 4th. And by “super impressed,” I mean they tolerated me without any audible complaints.
The tour took us to the small living area attached to the back of the general store where Coolidge was born, the family’s barn, and the Coolidge Homestead, where Coolidge grew up. This was also the place where Coolidge was first inaugurated. This is my favorite inauguration story. Coolidge, then Vice President, was visiting his family where word came in the middle of the night that President Harding had died. Coolidge and his family calmly got dressed and headed down to the parlor, where Coolidge’s father, a notary, presided over an impromptu inauguration ceremony at 2:47 AM. That accomplished, they all headed upstairs and went back to bed. Very no-nonsense and very New England. (While the constitution didn’t say that a notary couldn’t administer the oath of office, the government did have Coolidge secretly retake the oath a few weeks later, just in case.)
Besides the tour, we visited the general store, where I bought some maple syrup and some weird soda. We also popped up to the area above the general store, where they used to hold dances, and where Coolidge did his presidenting during the Summer of 1924. The cheese factory was definitely a highlight. I bought some yummy condiments, while Sara bought supplies for what ended up being a 2:00 AM cheese party that night at our hotel (I unfortunately had ODed on dairy at the Ben and Jerry’s Factory later that day and did not participate in the cheese festivities).
Afterwards, we headed to the cemetery where Coolidge is buried alongside his wife, first lady Grace Coolidge. It’s only a half a mile away, but it’s along country roads that aren’t necessarily pedestrian-friendly, so we drove. The US Government lays a wreath at each president’s grave every year on the anniversary of their birth, and Coolidge’s was still there from a couple days earlier.
Overall, the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site was a great place to visit, and one I would return to. There’s just something about the charm and peacefulness of the place makes it a winner in my book. Unlike other presidential history sites that might be surrounded modern-day development or are overly-touristy, at this site you really feel like you are stepping back in time and getting a sense of what it would have been like back when Calvin Coolidge was there. And there’s a cheese factory.
