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19-562: Grant Cottage State Historic Site is an Adirondack mountain cottage on the slope of Mount McGregor in the town of Moreau, New York . Ulysses S. Grant , the 18th President of the United States , died of throat cancer at the cottage on July 23, 1885. The house was maintained as a shrine to U.S. Grant following his death by the Mount McGregor Memorial Association and a series of live-in caretakers. The building became

38-414: A $ 25,000 advance to write his memoirs ; Grant completed the manuscript just three days before he died. During the next two years, sales of the work netted his family nearly $ 450,000 in royalties, saving his widow, Julia , from destitution. For decades after his death, thousands of Civil War veterans made a pilgrimage to this shrine outside Saratoga Springs . Thousands more visit Mt. McGregor annually to see

57-479: A National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 2021. The cottage was originally owned by Joseph William Drexel , a New York banker and friend of Grant, and Grant would spend the last six weeks of his life there. Author and publisher Mark Twain gave Grant a $ 25,000 advance to write his memoirs ; Grant completed the manuscript just three days before he died. During the next two years, sales of

76-472: A New York State Historic Site in 1957 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The Historic Site was designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 2021. The cottage was originally owned by Joseph William Drexel , a New York banker and friend of Grant, and Grant would spend the last six weeks of his life there. Author and publisher Mark Twain gave Grant

95-600: A prison, the Mount McGregor Correctional Facility . In 2013 Governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans to close the prison. The Mount McGregor Correctional Facility officially closed in July 2014. Grant Cottage State Historic Site continues to operate, but access to the area is restricted to Historic Site visitors during operating hours only. Over 700 acres of former corrections property was transferred to Moreau Lake State Park and there are new trails that access

114-412: The 18th President of the United States , died of throat cancer at the cottage on July 23, 1885. The house was maintained as a shrine to U.S. Grant following his death by the Mount McGregor Memorial Association and a series of live-in caretakers. The building became a New York State Historic Site in 1957 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The Historic Site was designated

133-448: The 1,200 acres of Mt. McGregor to build a tuberculosis sanitarium for up to 350 patients, eventually comprising 30 buildings costing around $ 3 million. The sanitarium opened in 1914. In 1945 New York State purchased the facility from Metropolitan for convalescing veterans of World War II. With the decline in the need for veterans' services the facility was converted for use of the developmentally disabled, and in 1976 converted again to

152-515: The Historic Site was expanded to 43 acres and is open to the public seasonally courtesy of The Friends of the Ulysses S. Grant Cottage . Mount McGregor (mountain) The Palmertown range is the most easterly of the five great mountain-chains which traverse the great wilderness. The Palmertown range begins on Lake Champlain, near Ticonderoga, and running down on both sides of Lake George, crosses

171-541: The Hudson above Glen's Falls, and running through the town of Wilton, ends in the high ground of North Broadway, in Saratoga Springs. There are two lakes on the mountain, Lake Bonita and Lake Anna, which were previously used for fishing. The mountain was originally called Palmertown Mountain , named by a band of Native Americans who moved to the area from Massachusetts escaping from the aftermath of King Philip's War . It

190-438: The cottage was lost to fire in 1897. The area surrounding the cottage later hosted a tuberculosis sanitarium, a veterans rest camp, a facility for the developmentally disabled and from 1976 through 2014 the now-closed Mount McGregor Correctional Facility , a New York State prison. After the closure of the correctional facility the Historic Site was expanded to 43 acres and is open to the public seasonally courtesy of The Friends of

209-403: The cottage. The Victorian hotel and resort that originally surrounded the cottage was lost to fire in 1897. The area surrounding the cottage later hosted a tuberculosis sanitarium, a veterans rest camp, a facility for the developmentally disabled and from 1976 through 2014 the now-closed Mount McGregor Correctional Facility , a New York State prison. After the closure of the correctional facility

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228-615: The hotel burned to the ground. In 1885 Drexel loaned his friend, seriously ill former president Ulysses S. Grant , the use of his personal cottage on the mountain. Here Grant spent the last six weeks of his life struggling to finish his memoirs before he died. The cottage, preserved exactly as it was at his death, is now the Grant Cottage State Historic Site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company purchased

247-413: The last time. A marker is located outside the cottage on the spot where Grant had his last look of the valley; it had to be fenced off to stop visitors from chipping off pieces as souvenirs. A visitor center and gift shop are also located there. A plaque is located a short distance away from the cottage and memorializes the fact that Grant died there. A New York historic marker is located a few yards from

266-497: The new Lake Bonita parcel. The 325-acre former Correctional Facility property is open to redevelopment proposals. This article about a location in Saratoga County, New York is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Grant Cottage State Historic Site Grant Cottage State Historic Site is an Adirondack mountain cottage on the slope of Mount McGregor in the town of Moreau, New York . Ulysses S. Grant ,

285-495: The original artifacts preserved at this historic site. Visitors can tour the historic house museum which has been furnished exactly as it was on the day Grant died. Some of the original floral arrangements from the funeral are on display, and the bed in which he died is shown in the parlor. Also in the parlor is the clock that was at the cottage, stopped at 8:08   am by General Grant's eldest son Frederick Dent Grant , who then reached over and touched his father's forehead for

304-428: The spot where Grant had his last look of the valley; it had to be fenced off to stop visitors from chipping off pieces as souvenirs. A visitor center and gift shop are also located there. A plaque is located a short distance away from the cottage and memorializes the fact that Grant died there. A New York historic marker is located a few yards from the cottage. The Victorian hotel and resort that originally surrounded

323-417: The work netted his family nearly $ 450,000 in royalties, saving his widow, Julia , from destitution. For decades after his death, thousands of Civil War veterans made a pilgrimage to this shrine outside Saratoga Springs . Thousands more visit Mt. McGregor annually to see the original artifacts preserved at this historic site. Visitors can tour the historic house museum which has been furnished exactly as it

342-411: Was on the day Grant died. Some of the original floral arrangements from the funeral are on display, and the bed in which he died is shown in the parlor. Also in the parlor is the clock that was at the cottage, stopped at 8:08   am by General Grant's eldest son Frederick Dent Grant , who then reached over and touched his father's forehead for the last time. A marker is located outside the cottage on

361-568: Was renamed after Duncan McGregor purchased it for back taxes and built a hotel called the Mountain House in 1876. In 1881 McGregor sold the mountain to the Saratoga, Mount McGregor and Lake George Railroad , owned by Joseph William Drexel . Drexel constructed a narrow-gauge railroad from Saratoga Springs and built the Hotel Balmoral at the summit with accommodation for 300 guests. In 1897

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