Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, Missouri

Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the USA, graduated from West Point in 1843 and began the military career that made him famous, starting with the Mexican War, and ending with the Civil War. He married Julia Dent in 1848, and lived for some years with her at her father’s plantation near St. Louis, known as White Haven. Today ten acres of the plantation are owned and managed by the National Park Service as the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. Most of the old plantation, though, remains in private hands, as part of the estate of the Busch family of the Anheuser-Busch Company, the largest beer maker in the country, headquartered in St. Louis. There are family mansions on the property, but also a theme park called Grant’s Farm, which has been open since the 1950s, with exotic animals, tram rides, petting zoos, and festive German restaurants and gift shops. Also on site is a cabin called Hardscrabble, which was built by Ulysses S. Grant on another part of the property and later relocated to Grant’s Farm. Their brochure claims that it’s the only remaining structure that was hand-built by a U.S. president prior to assuming office.