Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace, New York

Theodore Roosevelt, who would become the 26^th president of the USA, was born at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan in 1858, in a house very similar to the one that is there now, which is a replica. The house was originally built in 1848 by his grandfather, Cornelius Roosevelt, who was one of the wealthiest people in the city at that time. He built two adjacent brownstones here as wedding presents for his sons (Theodore’s father and uncle). Theodore lived here until he was 14, when the family went on a world tour, then moved into a new apartment at 6 West 57th Street. His birthplace stayed in the family until 1896. A group of notable businessmen, including Frick, Guggenheim, and Thomas Edison, got together to preserve the building as early as 1904, but the group became mired in controversy over the misappropriation of funds, and eventually disbanded. Commercial uses took over the building and transformed it, then in 1916 it was completely demolished and a two-story cafe was built on the site. In 1919, the year he died, the Women’s Roosevelt Memorial Association purchased the site, and demolished the new existing building. They built a replica of the original home, and a museum and galleries on the adjoining lot. Opened to the public in 1923, it was dedicated on what would have been Roosevelt’s 65th birthday. It was donated to the National Park Service in 1963. In 2015 it underwent a $3.7 million renovation and accessibility upgrade.