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12.18.2022

Buchanan's Birthplace State Park, Franklin County

Buchanan's Birthplace State Park is in a pretty remote location of south central PA. President Buchanan, the first of the two presidents to have been born in Pennsylvania, was born here on April 23, 1791. From here on he would go on to have an accomplished career in law, politics, and as ambassador to Russia. He went on to be catapulted to the office of the presidency in 1857 and would finish his term in 1861 and hand the baton on to Lincoln. Unfortunately he was unable to ease the tensions that led to the outbreak of the Civil War, but I cannot imagine that there would be anyone that could ease that fate at that time. He was and remains widely considered ineffective as a president and his moderate positions as president did not appease anyone and may have even hastened the breakout of the Civil War by emboldening southern positions. He was between a rock and a hard place as president and I do not think there were really any decisions that the office of the presidency could have made in that volatile time period.  
I would imagine that his steadfast stances in his moderation were built upon the rugged upbringing he would have had in this location. This spot is both peaceful and remote. This small state park is well worth stopping at for a picnic lunch. 

The memorial was built for him in 1907-1908 and dedicated in 1911. It uses local native stone and rubble and is a strange and unexpected contrast of a structure in a bucolic natural spot. 
The pups really enjoyed visiting this relaxing spot. The natural beauty of the spot definitely took my attention as the pups played. The history is cool, but living in the moment definitely took my attention here. 
These two had an absolute blast.

Buchanan's Birthplace State Park is definitely worth checking out if you are in the area. Beautiful Cowan's Gap State Park is not too far away and has more day and overnight facilities in a similarly beautiful natural setting. Historic Carrick Furnace is also pretty close. These roads themselves are a ton of fun to drive as well with tons of great rural scenery. 


Available is our book on Pennsylvania's historic amusement parks, Great Pennsylvania Amusement Parks Road Trip. It features Knoebels, Kennywood Park, Hersheypark, Dorney Park, Waldameer, DelGrosso's, Lakemont, Dutch Wonderland, Idlewild, and the sadly former, Conneaut Lake Park.

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