Sagamore
Hill National Historic Site Location: Oyster Bay, NY
Size: 83 acres
Date of hike: Nov. 11, 2018
Sagamore Hill is best known for being the home of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt from 1885 until his death in 1919. It was also called the "Summer White House" when he moved the executive office there in the summers of 1902-1908. In honor of Veterans Day, my girlfriend and I decided to visit the historic location and were pleasantly surprised to see that free tours of the house's first floor were being offered for the holiday. We also perused the museum and then enjoyed an awesome waterfront hike along the Cold Spring Harbor.
For starters, let's talk some history. Sagamore Hill came to be after a 22-year-old Roosevelt purchased 155 acres for $30,000 on Cove Neck, a little peninsula in the Town of Oyster Bay, in 1880, according to the National Park Service's website. In 1884, he hired an architectural firm to design a Queen Anne-style house for the property, which was completed for $16,975 in 1886. "The hill had no trees then, with a barn its only building," according to a pamphlet. "Of the property's 155 acres, he kept 95 and sold the rest to relatives." Roosevelt intended to name the home "Leeholm" after his first wife Alice Hathaway Lee, but she died of kidney disease in 1884 and he remarried two years later to his childhood friend Edith Kermit Crow, who birthed three children in that house. Roosevelt eventually decided to name the estate "Sagamore Hill" – with "Sagamore" being the Algonquin word for a "chieftain," which is the leader of a clan or tribe. After Edith died in 1948, Sagamore Hill and its assorted contents were bought by the Theodore Roosevelt Association, with Congress then establishing the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site to preserve the house as a unit of the National Park Service in 1962. It was later listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
Upon arriving, the first thing you'll see is a picturesque house on a hill. It's a Victorian-style structure with 23 rooms filled with mostly original furnishings and lots of taxidermy animals. The first floor features spaces such as Roosevelt's office, a kitchen and dining area, and a drawing room – the latter of which was Edith's domain where she'd often "demand privacy," the pamphlet said. The second floor features family bedrooms, guest rooms, and a room with a "great porcelain bathtub," and the top floor features a sewing room, the household staff's quarters, and Roosevelt's collection of hunting arms. Lastly, the home's south and west sections have a big piazza from which he looked out over Oyster Bay Harbor and the Long Island Sound. "The house on the hill was grand but not opulent," according to a sign. "It had fewer rooms and less staff than other mansions and it didn't have a manicured lawn." The sign also said that Sagamore Hill – particularly on the inside – was an overall reflection of Roosevelt as a "traveler, explorer, naturalist, hunter and, most importantly, a family man."
After the house tour, we checked out the museum and nature trail. Old Orchard Museum, which was built in 1937, was home to Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and his wife Eleanor until her death in 1960. It has a theater that plays biographical films, displays about Roosevelt's life, and other rotating exhibits. Alongside that building is a tiny trail through 35 acres filled with elm, cedar and chestnut trees. It also boasts a boardwalk that crosses over the Eel Creek and ends on a beach bordering Cold Spring Harbor. "[He] hiked these woods with his wife, kids and friends, pausing now and then to listen and spot birds," a sign said of Roosevelt, noting that he once identified 42 species around his home in one day. He'd also lead his family on overnight campouts or picnics on nearby beaches, another sign said, and the children would take rowboats up and down the coast seeking places to fish or explore.
Other attractions included a barn, windmill and ice house – all of which had signs outlining their functions during Roosevelt's time. With regard to wildlife, the site has everything from wood frogs to spotted salamanders to painted and snapping turtles, with birds ranging from winter wren to great crested flycatchers to ruby-crowned kinglets, according to the National Park Service's website. It's most abundant reptile is the northern diamond terrapin and the area has over 20 species of dragonflies and damselflies, the website said. Also, the park's forest type is "deciduous, second-growth oak-tulip trees," including a two-acre patch in the northwestern corner that has remained predominantly free of exotic species, the site said.
For those planning to visit Sagamore Hill, there is no cost to enter the grounds or museum, according to the National Park Service's website. Admission to the home is $10 for those over the age of 15, with no cost to those 15 and under, and access is by guided tour only. Pets are welcome "just like they were when the Roosevelts lived here," the website said. Interestingly, Roosevelt's six children kept normal pets like dogs and they also had more exotic ones like "parrots, guinea pigs, mice, and a badger named Josiah," the site said.
In closing, I'd say that Sagamore Hill is a must-see spot for local lovers of hiking or history. While its hiking is limited due to the site's small size, the beauty is unlimited. In addition, Roosevelt's grave is about a one-mile drive from the house at Youngs Memorial Cemetery, and I suggest stopping by his final resting place. It was a great end to my Veterans Day.
Parking: 40°53'11.3"N 73°29'56.1"W
Video: Sagamore Hill National Historic Site (360-degree view)
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