Grouseland, Indiana

Though William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the USA, was born and raised at a famous plantation in Virginia, his home in Vincennes, Indiana, called Grouseland, is where his legacy resides. Beginning in 1800 he served as the first Governor of the Indiana Territory. He started building this house in 1803, and it has some similarity to his boyhood home at Berkeley Plantation, though its walls are 18 inches thick (to help protect its occupants from Indian attacks). Grouseland had 17 rooms, enough for his wife and eight children. After the Harrisons moved to Ohio in 1812, the house was used as a hotel for railway workers, and as a grain storage silo. It was slated for demolition to make room for a municipal water storage tank, but was acquired by a local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Today Grouseland is operated by a historical foundation and is open to the public.