Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

“No President has ever enjoyed himself as much as I have enjoyed myself….,” Theodore Roosevelt once said, and everything about the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site reflects his enthusiasm for life.

Theodore Roosevelt spent summers at Sagamore Hill on Long Island — the “Summer White House” — with his wife and six children. While there, Roosevelt had time to run the country’s affairs as well as hike, swim, climb, and lead funerals for family pets with his children. The pet cemetery is on the estate’s grounds.

Roosevelt helped design the three-story, 23-room Victorian mansion, and it has been restored to the period of his presidency (1901 to 1909). The first two floors are furnished mainly with original artifacts, including Roosevelt’s often large and exotic furniture, elephant tusks and stuffed buffalo heads, and the President’s Rough Rider hat, sword, and binoculars.

All the furniture in the nursery — and most of the toys — belonged to the Roosevelt family. The teddy bear that sits in a small chair was a gift from the man whose father made the first teddy bear and asked to name it after Mr. Roosevelt.

The home also contains memorabilia of Roosevelt’s varied careers and hobbies. In addition to being President, Roosevelt was a Spanish-American War hero, police commissioner, cowboy, assistant secretary of the Navy, New York governor, Vice President, hunter, conservationist, author, and, in 1905, a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Sagamore National Historic Site, established in 1962, also includes the Old Orchard Museum. Originally the home of General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., it now contains exhibits and a film relating to Theodore Roosevelt’s life and career.

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site Information
Address: 20 Sagamore Hill Rd., Oyster Bay, NY
Telephone: 516/922-4788
Hours of Operation:

Admission: $5 for adults; free for children 15 and under

Learn more about these other national historic sites:

Saint-
Gaudens National Historic Site

To learn
more about national national monuments, memorials, and historic sites,
and other travel destinations in North America, visit:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Eric Peterson is a Denver-based freelance writer who has contributed to numerous guidebooks about the Western United States.

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