The second part of the tour deals with the half century of Presidents who governed as the country headed towards the Civil War, the abolishment of slavery and its aftermath, and ends with the Gilded Age. &nbsp;

Over the 200+ year history of the United States, many—if not all—presidents have visited New York. However, many have more local connections to both Upstate and Downstate regions, and one campaign even came right through Elmira. These series of tours provides a chronological list of all United States presidents, showing how they interacted with New York City.&nbsp;

A portrait of Ulysses S. Grant in albumen silver print.

American Presidents in NYC (1850-1901)

Authorized funding for the Arsenal As Comptroller of New YorkErie Railroad Opening Longest railroad in the nation: 446 miles Opened, 1851Fillmore married Caroline Carmichael McIntosh, a wealthy 44-year-old widow in 1858. She insisted on a prenuptial agreement. They honeymooned in Europe, returned to New York and purchased a mansion on Niagara Square in Buffalo.

Erie Railroad

Schuyler Mansion

Franklin Pierce opened the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations. At the New York Chrystal Palace. 20,000 people came the first day with another 30,000 outside – it was New York’s first tourist destination July 14, 1853

Pacific Telegraph Act President James Buchanan signed “An Act to Facilitate Communication between the Atlantic and Pacific States by Electric Telegraph after it was approved by Congress. June 16, 1860

The Western Union Telegraph Company

Abraham Lincoln made one of the most famous appearances of his career at Cooper Union with a speech February 27, 1860 which was 'heard round the world. &nbsp;He was the first passenger to pass through the Site of the High Line, at the Hudson River Railroad train station at 30th Street and 10th Avenue February, 1861. &nbsp;After his assassination the funeral cortege stopped in NY at the City Hall Rotunda for 23 hours, long enough for 500,000 people to pass at the rate of 80 people per minute April 24 -25, 1865. There is also a photo of Theodore Roosevelt in the window of his Grandfather’s house overlooking the processional.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Cooper Union

The first phase of the park extended from West 12th Street to 22nd Street between 10th & 11th Avenue.  Subsequent phases extended the length of the elevated rail till 32nd Street.

High Line

Prospect Park

Andrew Johnson came to New York for his Swing Around the Circle’ Speaking Tour on August 29,1866. &nbsp;He stayed at Delmonico's Hotel at 14th Street and Fifth Avenue and visited Madison Square Park.&nbsp;

Open August, 1837 – July 10, 1890. Rebuilt and reopened July 7, 1891, closed 1917

Current Location

In 1881 Ulysses S Grant moved into a house on 66th Street &amp; 5th Avenue. &nbsp;He invested his money in his son Ulysses “Buck” Grant Jr.'s &nbsp;brokerage firm Grant and Ward a which failed in 1884 leaving the family in debt. &nbsp;He wrote his memoirs to pay off his debt (which eventually made his family very wealthy). &nbsp;Sadly he died of throat cancer after the book was finished but before it was published.&nbsp;

H. & D. H. Brooks & Co. 

Rutherford B Hayes presdided over the opening of the American Museum of Natural History Opening ceremony on December 22, 1877. &nbsp;He returned to the City for the Centennial Celebration of Washington's Inauguration on April 30, 1889.&nbsp;

When he was campaigning for President, James Garfield gave a speech to 50,000 people at Madison Square Garden. &nbsp;Evidently he was away home for most of the first few years of his marriage fighting in the Civil War and serving in Congress. &nbsp;Around 1850 he met Lucia Gilbert Runkle who was a writer for the NY Tribune. &nbsp;He ended the affair after his wife learned of it; in many ways it helped solidify his marriage.&nbsp;&nbsp;

New York Tribune Building

Trained as a lawyer, Chester A Arthur argued some significant cases including for Elizabeth Jennings who was kicked off a streetcar on her way to church because she was black. &nbsp;He was appointed 'Collector' of the New York Custom House a position which paid more than the Presidency in 1871; he left it in 1878 for the Vice Presidency. After becoming vice-president of the United States, he immediately went on a shopping spree at Brooks Brothers shopping spree. &nbsp;He happened to be home at123 Lexington Avenue when Garfield died on September 19, 1881 and took the presidential oath of office here&nbsp;

Intersection of Pearl Street and Chatham Street

In Madison Sq., near the northeast entrance at 26th St.

National City Bank Building (Formerly Merchants' Exchange)

Scheduled to preside over the ‘Holing Through’ ceremony at the Holland Tunnel, Cleveland was headed to New York. &nbsp;The ceremony was cencelled because unfortunately, Clifford Holland died of a heart attack at a Battle Creek sanatorium the day before the ceremony. &nbsp;In the summer of 1893, President Grover Cleveland disappeared for four days to have secret surgery on a yacht, the Oneida. It was the beginning of his second term as president and the country was entering a depression, a delicate time in which a president's health was inextricably linked to that of the nation. So Cleveland decided to keep the surgery a secret. Shortly after he took office for the second time in 1893, he noticed a little bump on the roof of his mouth had grown quite large in the summer. It was diagnosed as cancer.&nbsp;He returned to the harbor to preside over the Statue of Liberty Dedication and Ticker Tape Parade Dedication ceremony, on October 28, 1886 and then again for the Centennial Celebration of Washington’s Inauguration President Harrison was joined by former presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and Grover Cleveland for the military parade Celebration, Apr 30, 1889. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Statue of Liberty

The Oneida

The guest of honor for New York's three-day Centennial Celebration of Washington's Inauguration was the new President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison. &nbsp;On April 29, 1889, President Harrison replicated Washington's cross-harbor voyage from Jersey City, landing at the foot of Wall Street where Washington himself landed 100 years earlier. Harrison took part in ceremonies at City Hall on April 30, and viewed the parade that led from Fifth Avenue and 57th Street to Washington Square from stands at Madison Square on May 1, 1889.&nbsp;After President Harrison’s retirement, he married his 37-year old niece, Mrs. Mary Lord Dimmick in Manhattan at St Thomas Protestant Episcopal Church in New York City on April 6, 1896. Harrison's grown children from his first marriage, horrified at the news, did not attend the wedding. He was then 62, she about 38. They moved into her home at 1100 Fifth Avenue. &nbsp;The following year a daughter, Elizabeth was born to them. In 1901 Mr. Harrison died. Mrs. Harrison and the President’s children by his first marriage then entered into litigation over the Harrison estate of some $375,000.&nbsp;

St Thomas Protestant Episcopal Church (now Saint Thomas Church)

On April 30, 1899 President William McKinley attended Sunday services at Mt. Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City. &nbsp;He took a pleasure cruise on the Hudson. To get to the dock at 129th Street from the Hotel Manhattan where McKinley was staying, the President, First Lady, and their entourage boarded carriages and cut through Central Park to Riverside Drive.&nbsp;

American Presidents in NYC (1850-1901)

Tour Stops