U.S. Grant Birthplace and Grant Commemorative Sites Historic District

Point Pleasant, a small hamlet on the Ohio River east of Cincinnati, is the birthplace of Ulysses S. Grant, and this four-acre district gathers the places that commemorate that fact. At its core is the Grant Birthplace, a one-story timber-frame house with a limestone foundation, furnished as it might have looked at his birth. Nearby are a brick caretaker's house from about 1820 with 1936 additions by the Columbus firm Goller, Harsh & Davies, a 1936-37 garage, and Grant Memorial Park. Stone pylons, bronze beacons and plaques from the 1920s bridge survive, though the bridge span itself was replaced in 1984. Limestone retaining walls, flagstone walks, gutters and a parking lot were built with Works Progress Administration labor around 1937. The State of Ohio acquired the park in 1925, an early public preservation effort. The district was listed for its role in commemorating Grant and in the growth of tourism tied to his Clermont County origins, with a period of significance from about 1864 to 1948.