Buchanan's Birthplace State Park

State park in Pennsylvania, United States

Buchanan's Birthplace State Park
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
The stone pyramid marking the site of President Buchanan's birth in the park
Location of Buchanan's Birthplace State Park in PennsylvaniaShow map of PennsylvaniaBuchanan's Birthplace State Park (the United States)Show map of the United States
Location	Peters, Franklin, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates	39°52′15″N 77°57′14″W / 39.87083°N 77.95389°W / 39.87083; -77.95389
Area	18.5 acres (7.5 ha)
Elevation	912 ft (278 m)
Established	1911
Named for	Birthplace of James Buchanan
Governing body	Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Website	Buchanan's Birthplace State Park

Buchanan's Birthplace State Park is an 18.5-acre (7.5 ha) Pennsylvania state park near Cove Gap in Peters Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. The park is on Pennsylvania Route 16 along Tuscarora Mountain. Buchanan's Birthplace State Park was created from land donated to the state by Harriet Lane in honor of her uncle, the 15th President of the United States, James Buchanan.

Recreation

Recreation facilities are limited. There are two pavilions and a number of picnic tables. Drinking water and two restrooms are located near the picnic area. A pyramid built with native stone stands at the site of the cabin where President Buchanan was born. Buck Run runs through the park and has a population of native trout for fishing. Tuscarora Trail, a bypass trail for the Appalachian Trail, passes just to the west of the park.

Buchanan's Birthplace

President James Buchanan was born into an Ulster Scots family on April 23, 1791, near the village of Cove Gap. He was born in a log cabin on property owned by his father. The complex was known as Stony Batter, named for the family home near Ramelton in County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. At the time of Buchanan's birth, the Cove Gap area was on the edge of the American frontier. Today it is a quite isolated area, but when President Buchanan was born it was a center of frontier commerce. Stony Batter was a complex of cabins, barns, stables, storehouses, a general store, and an orchard. Pioneers travelling from the East Coast through Cove Gap stopped at Stony Batter to rest and replenish their supplies. Buchanan lived at Stony Batter until he was six years old, when his father moved his business to Mercersburg.

Monument

Harriet Lane Johnston was President Buchanan's niece and since he never married she served as his First Lady. She led the effort to create a memorial to her uncle. She made several efforts to purchase his birthplace, Stony Batter, but was ultimately unsuccessful. When she wrote her will in 1895, she created a trust whose task it was to pursue the construction of monuments to her uncle. Upon Harriet Lane's death, in 1903, the responsibility for building the monument devolved upon a banker from Washington, D.C., E. Francis Riggs and a lawyer from Baltimore, Lawrason Riggs (not to be confused with E. Francis' brother of the same name). As the area was no longer a center of commerce, and had become a remote place, it is uncertain why it took years to purchase Stony Batter, but the Riggs' were finally successful in doing so in 1907. The monument in the shape of a pyramid was built of native stone. Wyatt and Nolting, an architectural firm from Baltimore, designed the memorial. The pyramid is 38 feet (12 m) square and 31 feet (9.4 m) high. It is made of 50 short tons (45 t) of American Gray Granite and 250 tons of mortar and native stones. Construction of the pyramid began in October 1907 with a work force of 20 men. They built a small railroad to haul the heavy materials from the mountainside to the construction site. The work force grew to 35 men and the monument was completed by late winter with a surrounding iron railing. The Pennsylvania General Assembly of 1911 accepted the monument from the trust of Harriet Lane Johnston and Buchanan's Birthplace State Park was formally established.

Nearby state parks

The following state parks are within 30 miles (48 km) of Buchanan's Birthplace State Park:

Berkeley Springs State Park (West Virginia)
Cacapon State Park (West Virginia)
Cowans Gap State Park (Fulton County)
Caledonia State Park (Adams and Franklin Counties)
Fort Frederick State Park (Maryland)
Greenbrier State Park (Maryland)
Mont Alto State Park (Franklin County)
South Mountain State Park (Maryland)
Trough Creek State Park (Huntingdon County)
Warriors Path State Park (Bedford County)

References

^ "Buchanan's Birthplace State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. August 28, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
^ "Buchanan's Birthplace State Park". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on November 4, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
"Find a Park by Region (interactive map)". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
2007 General Highway Map Franklin County Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). 1:65,000. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bureau of Planning and Research, Geographic Information Division. Retrieved July 27, 2007. Note: shows Buchanan's Birthplace State Park
Michels, Chris (1997). "Latitude/Longitude Distance Calculation". Northern Arizona University. Archived from the original on April 11, 2008. Retrieved April 20, 2008.

External links

"Buchanan's Birthplace State Park official map" (PDF). (58 KB)

v t e James Buchanan
15th President of the United States (1857–1861) 17th United States Secretary of State (1845–1849) U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (1834–1845) U.S. Representative for PA–4 (1823–1831) U.S. Representative for PA–3 (1821–1823)
Life	Electoral history of James Buchanan 1844 Democratic National Convention Oregon Treaty 1848 Democratic National Convention Wheatland Doughface 1852 Democratic National Convention Ostend Manifesto 1856 United States presidential election 1856 Democratic National Convention Woodward Hill Cemetery
Presidency	Inauguration of James Buchanan Dred Scott v. Sandford List of federal judges appointed by James Buchanan Panic of 1857 Utah War Bleeding Kansas Lecompton Constitution 1858 United States elections Paraguay expedition United States House Select Committee to Investigate Alleged Corruptions in Government Corwin Amendment Lincoln transition
Public image	James Buchanan Memorial Buchanan's Birthplace State Park Buchanan, Michigan Buchanan, Georgia Buchanan, Missouri James Buchanan High School Raising Buchanan
Family	Harriet Lane (niece, acting First Lady) James Buchanan Henry (nephew)
← Franklin Pierce Abraham Lincoln → Category

Protected areas of Pennsylvania

Federal

NPS National Historical Parks & National Historic Sites	Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS Edgar Allan Poe NHS Eisenhower NHS First State NHP Friendship Hill NHS Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church NHS Hopewell Furnace NHS Independence NHP Steamtown NHS Valley Forge NHP
National Memorials	Benjamin Franklin Flight 93 Johnstown Flood Thaddeus Kosciuszko
National Battlefields and National Military Parks	Fort Necessity NB Gettysburg NMP
National Trails	Appalachian Trail
National Forests	Allegheny
USFS National Historic Sites	Grey Towers
National Wildlife Refuges	Cherry Valley Erie John Heinz Ohio River Islands
Wilderness areas	Allegheny Islands Hickory Creek
Other protected areas	Allegheny National Recreation Area Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Lackawanna Heritage Valley National and State Heritage Area Lower Delaware National Wild and Scenic River Middle Delaware National Scenic River Susquehanna National Heritage Area Tionesta Scenic Area Tionesta Wild Area Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River

State

Natural Areas	Alan Seeger Algerine Swamp Anders Run Bark Cabin Bear Meadows Bear Run Beartown Woods Big Flat Laurel Black Ash Swamp Bruce Lake Buckhorn Carbaugh Run Charles F. Lewis Cranberry Swamp David R. Johnson Detweiler Run Devil’s Elbow East Branch Swamp Forrest H. Dutlinger Frank E. Masland Halfway Run Hemlocks The Hook Hoverter and Sholl Box Huckleberry Jakey Hollow Johnson Run Joyce Kilmer Kettle Creek Gorge Lebo Red Pine Little Juniata Little Mud Pond Swamp Little Tinicum Island Lower Jerry Run Marion Brooks M.K. Goddard/Wykoff Run Meeting of the Pines Miller Run Mt. Cydonia Ponds Mt. Davis Mt. Logan Pennel Run Pine Creek Gorge Pine Lake Pine Ridge Pine Tree Trail Reynolds Spring Roaring Run Rocky Ridge Rosencrans Bog Ruth Zimmerman Sheets Island Archipelago Snyder-Middleswarth Spruce Swamp Stillwater Sweet Root Tall Timbers Tamarack Run Tamarack Swamp Torbert Island
State Parks	Allegheny Islands Archbald Pothole Bald Eagle Beltzville Bendigo Benjamin Rush Big Elk Creek Big Pocono Big Spring Black Moshannon Blue Knob Boyd Big Tree Buchanan's Birthplace Bucktail Caledonia Canoe Creek Chapman Cherry Springs Clear Creek Codorus Colonel Denning Colton Point Cook Forest Cowans Gap Delaware Canal Denton Hill Elk Erie Bluffs Evansburg Fort Washington Fowlers Hollow Frances Slocum French Creek Gifford Pinchot Gouldsboro Greenwood Furnace Hickory Run Hillman Hills Creek Hyner Run Hyner View Jacobsburg Jennings Joseph E. Ibberson Kettle Creek Keystone Kings Gap Kinzua Bridge Kooser Lackawanna Laurel Hill Laurel Mountain Laurel Ridge Laurel Summit Lehigh Gorge Leonard Harrison Linn Run Little Buffalo Little Pine Locust Lake Lyman Run Marsh Creek Maurice K. Goddard McCalls Dam McConnells Mill Memorial Lake Milton Mont Alto Moraine Mt. Pisgah Nescopeck Neshaminy Nockamixon Nolde Forest Norristown Farm Ohiopyle Oil Creek Ole Bull Parker Dam Patterson Penn-Roosevelt Pine Grove Furnace Poe Paddy Poe Valley Point Presque Isle Prince Gallitzin Promised Land Prompton Prouty Place Pymatuning R. B. Winter Raccoon Creek Ralph Stover Ravensburg Reeds Gap Ricketts Glen Ridley Creek Ryerson Station Salt Springs Samuel S. Lewis Sand Bridge Shawnee Shikellamy Simon B. Elliott Sinnemahoning Sizerville Susquehanna Susquehanna Riverlands Susquehannock Swatara Tobyhanna Trough Creek Tuscarora Tyler Upper Pine Bottom Varden Vosburg Neck Warriors Path Washington Crossing Whipple Dam White Clay Creek Worlds End Yellow Creek
State Forests	Bald Eagle Buchanan Clear Creek Cornplanter Delaware Elk Forbes Gallitzin Loyalsock Michaux Moshannon Pinchot Rothrock Sproul Susquehannock Tiadaghton Tioga Tuscarora Weiser William Penn
Scenic Rivers	Bear Run French Creek Lehigh River LeTort Spring Run Lick Run Lower Brandywine Octoraro Creek Pine Creek Schuylkill River Stony Creek Tucquan Creek Tulpehocken Creek Yellow Breeches Creek
State Game Lands	12 13 14 24 25 26 28 29 30 31 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 179 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 335
Wild areas	Algerine Asaph Burns Run Clear Shade Hammersley James C. Nelson Kettle Creek Russell P. Letterman Martin Hill McIntyre Penns Creek Quebec Run Quehanna Russell P. Letterman Square Timber Stairway Thickhead Mountain Trough Creek Wolf Run
Other	Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail Mohn Mill Ponds Wild Plant Sanctuary Stone Valley Recreation Area

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