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Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site

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Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site

U.S. Grant National Historic Site preserves and interprets White Haven, the St. Louis home of President Ulysses S. Grant and First Lady Julia Dent Grant.
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Ulysses S. Grant is known as the victorious Civil War general who saved the Union and the 18th President of the United States. Few people know about his rise to fame or his personal life. He first met Julia Dent, his future wife, at her family home, named White Haven. Today, that home commemorates their lives and loving partnership against the turbulent backdrop of the nineteenth century. The National Park Service preserves and interprets White Haven and tells the story of Ulysses and Julia Grant, the events surrounding the Civil War and Reconstruction, and all the people -- free and enslaved -- who called White Haven home. Our 9.6-acre park includes the original 1816 home, three historic outbuildings, an interpretive museum housed in Grant's historic stable, and a modern visitor center featuring an introductory film. Comment Policy:
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09/28/2026

CLOSING THIS WEEK!

Do you have possessions that have special meaning to you: a special photograph, an inherited family heirloom, a keepsake from a special day? This summer, the museum at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site is featuring a special exhibit: Julia Dent Grant: A 200-Year Legacy. The exhibit showcases artifacts from Julia’s life in St. Louis, as well as her travels across the country and around the world.

The final featured artifact from the special exhibit "Julia Dent Grant: A 200-Year Legacy" is a first edition copy of Julia's memoirs! About a year after her husband's death in 1885, Julia began collecting her memories in a book originally intended to be "purely a family volume" (as noted by Julia in 1890). She later had second thoughts, but was unable to find a publisher to release her memoirs in the way she wanted. She would die in 1902 with the book remaining in private hands. It wouldn't be until several decades later that, with the consent of Julia's great-granddaughters, historian John Y. Simon edited the memoirs and published them through Southern Illinois University Press in 1975.

This week is the LAST CHANCE to see the special exhibit! Please plan to visit before the exhibit closes on September 30, 2026.

Image: Cover of the first edition of Julia Dent Grant's memoir (NPS photo)

09/21/2026

The opportunity to see insights into Julia Dent Grant's life is winding down!

Do you have possessions that have special meaning to you: a special photograph, an inherited family heirloom, a keepsake from a special day? This summer, the museum at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site is featuring a special exhibit: Julia Dent Grant: A 200-Year Legacy. The exhibit showcases artifacts from Julia’s life in St. Louis, as well as her travels across the country and around the world.

This week's featured artifact from the special exhibit "Julia Dent Grant: A 200-Year Legacy" is a copy of Success magazine featuring Mrs. Grant. She was featured on the magazine's cover in 1899, and the magazine noted that "though Mrs. Grant goes but little into society, she occupies an important place in the social life of Washington [D.C.]. She is, of course, universally respected and beloved.

There are just a few weeks remaining to see these items and the other artifacts from Julia's life. Please plan to visit before the exhibit closes on September 30, 2026.

Image: Cover of Success magazine featuring Julia Dent Grant (NPS photo)

09/16/2026

Join us to bring our Julia Dent Grant Celebration to a close!

On Thursday, September 17th, the park will conclude its year-long celebration of Julia Dent Grant honoring the 200th anniversary of her birth. This is one last chance to see the special exhibit on Julia with about 30 artifacts from her life. The park will remain open until 6PM and feature live music by Jim Nelson and the old-time string band, Old Jawbone playing 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM. Due to the extreme heat, the music will be in the Visitor Center. This event is free and no reservations are required.

Image: Old Jawbone (Jim Nelson)

09/14/2026

The opportunity to see insights into Julia Dent Grant's life is winding down!

Do you have possessions that have special meaning to you: a special photograph, an inherited family heirloom, a keepsake from a special day? This summer, the museum at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site is featuring a special exhibit: Julia Dent Grant: A 200-Year Legacy. The exhibit showcases artifacts from Julia’s life in St. Louis, as well as her travels across the country and around the world.

This week's featured artifact from the special exhibit "Julia Dent Grant: A 200-Year Legacy" is a letter from President William McKinley to Julia. Dated Feburary 2nd, 1901, the letter informs Julia that her son Fred is being nominated to the position of Brigadier General in the United States Army. Fred had gone to serve in the Philippines and would remain there until 1902.

There are just a few weeks remaining to see these items and the other artifacts from Julia's life. Please plan to visit before the exhibit closes on September 30, 2026.

Image: Letter from President McKinley to Julia (U.S. Grant Presidential Library)

09/07/2026

The opportunity to see insights into Julia Dent Grant's life is winding down!

Do you have possessions that have special meaning to you: a special photograph, an inherited family heirloom, a keepsake from a special day? This summer, the museum at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site is featuring a special exhibit: Julia Dent Grant: A 200-Year Legacy. The exhibit showcases artifacts from Julia’s life in St. Louis, as well as her travels across the country and around the world.

This week's featured artifact from the special exhibit "Julia Dent Grant: A 200-Year Legacy" is a historic stereoview photograph of Grant, Julia, and Jesse during the Civil War. The photo shows the trio at Army Headquarters in City Point, VA. This photo was likely taken sometime in 1864 or 1865. By this point in the war, Grant held the rank of Lieutenant General and was in charge of all Union armies. Union forces built trenches and surrounded Confederate General Robert E. Lee's forces around Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia. Julia did not let the war get in the way of visiting her husband several times during the conflict.

There are just a few weeks remaining to see these items and the other artifacts from Julia's life. Please plan to visit before the exhibit closes on September 30, 2026.

Image: Ulysses, Julia, and Jesse Grant at City Point, VA (Library of Congress)

09/04/2026

A presidential adventure!
Just a few months into his presidency, President and Mrs. Grant traveled on the newly completed Mt. Washington Cog Railway in late August 1869. The Grants and their party of 35 traveled three miles up the side of the mountain to The Tip-Top House, a rustic hotel at the summit. Located in Sargent’s Purchase, New Hampshire, Mt. Washington is the highest peak in New England at 6,288 feet. The summit is also considered the windiest spot, with winds reaching speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour.

This month, the park is featuring a stereoview photograph of the Ulysses, Julia, and what is believed to be their 14-year old daughter Nellie, and 11-year old son Jesse. The photo was taken outside the main entrance to the Tip-Top House on this adventure.

The photograph will be on display throughout the month of September. Stop by the park’s museum to see this unique photograph and learn more.

Image: President Grant and party seated on the hillside outside the entrance to the Tip-Top House in August 1869. (NPS photo)

09/01/2026

Hardscrabble: The House That Grant Built!
The fall of 2026 marks the 170th anniversary of the Grants living at Hardscrabble.
A home is a very personal place, and most of us adapt and decorate so that it reflects what is important to us. Ulysses wanted to make a home for his wife and family that was truly their own. Cutting and dressing the logs himself, the home was completed in the fall of 1856 on a parcel given to the Grants as a wedding gift by her father on the White Haven estate.

Accustomed to the relative finery of her upbringing at White Haven, Julia lamented Ulysses’ decision to build a log cabin, not even “a neat frame house.” In fact, she recalled in her memoirs that it was “so crude and homely I did not like it at all, but I did not say so. I got out all my pretty covers, baskets, books, etc., and tried to make it look home like and comfortable, but this was hard to do. The little house looked so unattractive that we facetiously decided to call it Hardscrabble.”

Even though Hardscrabble was the first house that Ulysses S. Grant ever owned, they lived there for only a short time. Julia remembered moving in during September 1856 and living there only three months. At the request of Colonel Dent, Julia and Ulysses returned to White Haven when her mother died in January 1857. The little cabin never again served as home for the Grants.

The home still exists and is located very near the park. Stop by the park’s museum beginning in October for a small exhibit commemorating the one house that Ulysses S. Grant would ever build.

Image: Hardscrabble c. late 1860s (MO Historical Society)

08/31/2026

The opportunity to see insights into Julia Dent Grant's life is winding down!

Do you have possessions that have special meaning to you: a special photograph, an inherited family heirloom, a keepsake from a special day? This summer, the museum at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site is featuring a special exhibit: Julia Dent Grant: A 200-Year Legacy. The exhibit showcases artifacts from Julia’s life in St. Louis, as well as her travels across the country and around the world.

This week's featured artifact from the special exhibit "Julia Dent Grant: A 200-Year Legacy" is a reproduction of a cup and saucer from the presidential china set picked by Julia for the White House. A state china service was first ordered by Grant in 1869. The addition of supplemental pieces in 1873 occurred ahead of the White House wedding of the Grants' daughter, Nellie. The original set is located in the White House China Room as part of the official Presidential China Collection.

There are just a few weeks remaining to see these items and the other artifacts from Julia's life. Please plan to visit before the exhibit closes on September 30, 2026.

Image: Reproduction of cup and saucer from the Grant's White House china (NPS photo)

08/26/2026

Ranger Program: From Spectacle to Surveillance:
The Rise (and Descent) of the Union Army Balloon Corps
Saturday, August 29, 2026 (10:00 AM – 11:00 AM)

Join Park Ranger Jonas in learning about one of the unique chapters of Civil War history: The use of hot-air and hydrogen balloons by the Union Army for military surveillance. Come learn about Thaddues Lowe, the eccentric scientist and architect behind the Union Army Balloon Corps and how military ballooning - while promising - eventually was deemed to be too much hot air for the Union’s war effort. The program is free. Call 314-842-1867 ext. 230 for reservations.

Image: Prof. Thaddeus Lowe's Balloon Camp (Library of Congress)

08/25/2026

The opportunity to see insights into Julia Dent Grant's life is winding down!

Do you have possessions that have special meaning to you: a special photograph, an inherited family heirloom, a keepsake from a special day? This summer, the museum at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site is featuring a special exhibit: Julia Dent Grant: A 200-Year Legacy. The exhibit showcases artifacts from Julia’s life in St. Louis, as well as her travels across the country and around the world.

This week's featured artifact from the exhibit is a 3-piece silver and ivory coffee service set. To celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, the Grants were gifted this set in 1873 during their time in the White House. Their 25th wedding anniversary was also known as their 'silver' anniversary, thus the gift of a silver service set.

There are just a few weeks remaining to see these items and the other artifacts from Julia's life. Please plan to visit before the exhibit closes on September 30, 2026.

Image: Julia Grant's anniversary tea set (NPS photo)

Address

7400 Grant Road
St. Louis, MO
63123

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm
Sunday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+13148421867

Website

http://www.nps.gov/ulsg

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