By Carl Weiser
Enquirer Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - At the birthplace of President Ulysses S. Grant in Point Pleasant, the paint is peeling and plaster falling.

The birthplace of President Ulysses S. Grant in Point Pleasant. (Ernest Coleman photo)

At the Rutherford B. Hayes presidential center in Fremont, exhibits have not been updated in more than 20 years.

For dozens of smaller presidential historic sites around the country, just managing to stay open is a triumph.

Private groups or state and local governments run these sites. Many honor some of the nation's, say, less distinguished presidents. Others preserve lesser-known haunts of famous commanders-in-chief, like a law office or vacation home.

Sen. Mike DeWine wants to help.

The Cedarville Republican plans to push this year a bill to create a presidential historic site commission and provide $5 million a year to maintain the places where presidents lived, went to school, retired, or are buried. DeWine first introduced the Presidential Sites Improvement Act in 2000, but it went nowhere.

Now Rep. Paul Gillmor, an Old Fort Republican whose district includes the Hayes site, plans to introduce the bill in the House, probably around Presidents' Day, Chief of Staff Mark Wellman said.

"We do need help," said Loretta Fuhrman, curator for 36 years at the Grant house along the Ohio River in Clermont County. "I would fix the plaster and repaint. And then I would make sure we had enough books and things to sell in the Grant house."

Ohio is known as Mother of Presidents because eight called Ohio home. Grant alone has three sites - his birthplace in Point Pleasant, his schoolhouse and the home in which he grew up, both in Georgetown.

Just west of Cincinnati, in North Bend, is the tomb of William Henry Harrison, who served the shortest term of any president: 31 days. He caught pneumonia during his inauguration.

The federal government maintains some historic presidential sites, like the Taft house in Cincinnati or the James Garfield house in Mentor. They won't be eligible for the $5 million in the DeWine bill.

But many others raise their money locally or are run by the financially struggling Ohio Historical Society. In fact, the bill specifically sets aside most of the money for sites with operating budgets of less than $700,000 a year.

A list compiled by the American Association for State and Local History shows 133 presidential historic sites, with only 45 of them run by the federal government.

Virtually all the Ohio presidential sites have too little cash, society spokeswoman Kathy Hoke said. They always need money for maintenance problems: old roofs, sagging gutters, leaking plumbing.

Conserving is expensive: The James K. Polk ancestral home in Columbia, Tenn., spent $8,000 just to preserve a gown worn by Polk's wife, said John Holtzapple, the site's director.

Presidential sites

The Tristate has at least 20 historical sites that have ties to presidents and their first ladies. Only four are federally maintained:

INDIANA

Benjamin Harrison:

 Benjamin Harrison Home (Nonprofit), 1230 N. Delaware St., Indianapolis. www.presidentbenjaminharrison.org

 Benjamin Harrison Foundation (Nonprofit), One Indiana Square, Suite 2800, Indianapolis.

William Henry Harrison: Grouseland Foundation Inc. (Nonprofit), 3 W. Scott St., Vincennes. www.grouselandfoundation.org

Abraham Lincoln:

  The Lincoln Museum (Corporate), P.O. Box 7838, Fort Wayne. www.thelincolnmuseum.org

 Lincoln Boyhood National Monument (Federal), P.O. Box 1816, Lincoln City. www.nps.gov/libo

KENTUCKY

Abraham Lincoln:

 Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site (Federal), 2995 Lincoln Farm Road, Hodgenville. www.nps.gov/abli

 Lincoln Museum (Nonprofit), 66 Lincoln Square, Hodgenville. www.noinkmedia.com/lincolnmuseum

First ladies: Mary Todd Lincoln House (Nonprofit), P.O. Box 132, Lexington. www.mtlhouse.org

OHIO

James Garfield:

 Garfield Monument at Lake View Cemetery (City and nonprofit), 12316 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. www.lakeviewcemetery.com/interest.html

 James A. Garfield National Historic Site (Federal), 8095 Mentor Ave., Mentor. www.nps.gov/jaga

Ulysses Grant:

 U.S. Grant Boyhood Home (State), 219 E. Grant, Georgetown. www.usgrantboyhoodhome.org

 Ulysses S. Grant Birthplace (State), P.O. Box 2, New Richmond. www.ohiohistory.org/places/grantbir

Warren Harding: President Warren G. Harding Home and Museum (State), 380 Mount Vernon Ave., Marion. www.ohiohistory.org/places/harding

William Henry Harrison: Harrison Tomb (Nonprofit), Cliff Road off U.S. 50, North Bend. www.ohiohistory.org/places/harrison

Rutherford Hayes: Hayes Presidential Center (Nonprofit), Spiegel Grove, Fremont. www.rbhayes.org

William McKinley:

 McKinley Museum (Nonprofit), 800 McKinley Monument Drive N.W., Canton. www.mckinleymuseum.org

 McKinley Memorial Library (Nonprofit), 40 North Main St., Niles. www.mckinley.lib.oh.us

William Taft: Taft National Historic Site (Federal), 2038 Auburn Ave., Cincinnati. www.nps.gov/wiho

First ladies:

 National First Ladies Library (Nonprofit), 331 Market Ave. S., Canton. www.firstladies.org

 Saxton McKinley House (Nonprofit), 331 Market Ave. S., Canton. www.firstladies.org/SaxtonMcKinleyHouse.htm

Source: American Association for State and Local History

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E-mail cweiser@gannett.com