It’s Presidents Day! Of the 46 Presidents in the history of the United States, five have been born in New York state, including the most recent former President, Donald J. Trump. Of course, even more Presidents have made their mark on New York City, which you can discover in our previous guide on Presidential haunts from George Washington on.
For now, discover the U.S. Presidents from New York state from the most recent to the earliest in office!
1. Donald J. Trump
Donald J. Trump was born on June 14, 1946, in Queens at Jamaica Hospital, now known as the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. Located at 8900 Van Wyck Expressway, the hospital can be seen from the Long Island Railroad as you approach Jamaica station. Particularly notable are the added words TRUMP PAVILION at the top of the Nursing and Rehabilitation building, dedicated for Trump’s mother.
Until he was four years old, Trump lived in a 2,000 square foot, five bedroom Tudor house in Jamaica Estates, Queens at 85-15 Warham Place. The house has been on and off the market in the last few years, with previous purchasers hoping to cash in on the Trump presidency. It certainly has garnered a premium, compared to the other houses in the neighborhood. Trump’s former house sold for $1.4 million in 2016, then $2.14 in 2017 to the company, Trump Birth House, LLC, described by the New York Post as “represented by a Flushing lawyer who works with Chinese buyers seeking overseas investments.”
The house was last on the market at $2.9 million in February 2019 (with an all-cash buy preferred by the sellers), was taken off the market 10 days later, and then failed to sell at auction. The realty company representing the house stated that the auction had been postponed to allow more time for crowdfunding groups who wanted to buy the house to raise money. There has been no news since November 2019 regarding the house. When Trump’s brother Robert was born, the family moved into to a much loftier 23-room Neoclassical revival mansion nearby at 85-14 Midland Parkway.
The rest of Trump’s holdings, including Trump Tower, are well-documented and you can locate them with our guide to his buildings in New York City. In October 2019, Trump filed for residency in Florida.
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882 at Springwood, the family estate in Hyde Park that was purchased by his father James in 1866. In 1915, FDR and his mother Sara began renovating and enlarging the house and created the imposing Italianate mansion that visitors see today.
The house was home to FDR’s “Summer White House” during his Presidency where notable personages including Queen Elizabeth and King George VI, Winston Churchill, and many other European monarchs paid visit. One little-known visit included the future Gold medalist rowing team from the Washington University at the 1936 Olympics, while competing at the Poughkeepsie Regatta. The Washington boys, hearing that Hyde Park was nearby, literally walked there and rang the front door, where they were welcomed by FDR’s son, who was himself a member of the crew team at Harvard. The story is recounted in the book The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
FDR built other houses on the Hyde Park estate for his mother and wife, Eleanor. In 1943, Franklin Delano Roosevelt donated Springwood to the American people and after his death it was transferred to the National Parks Service. FDR died in his “Little White House” in Palm Springs, Georgia, but he is buried at the Rose Garden at Springwood. Today, the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site can be visited and is still part of the National Park Service.
FDR and Eleanor also had a townhouse in New York City. The adjoining townhouses at 47-49 East 65th Street were commissioned by FDR’s mother for the new couple as a Christmas gift. In 1908, Eleanor and FDR moved in to 49 East 65th Street while Sara Delano moved into 47 East 65th Street. It was largely during their residence here that the most significant events and political policy contributions by Eleanor and FDR were made. Roosevelt recovered from his diagnosis of polio here in 1921, began his ascent into politics as a New York senator, was elected President and inked the New Deal. Eleanor was very involved with the Women’s Trade Union League at this time and forging equality in women’s rights. The house was acquired by Hunter College in 1942 and became a New York City landmark in 1973. A remodel was completed in 2010 and became the home of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College.
3. Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858, the only U.S President before Donald J. Trump that was born in New York City. He was born in the townhouse at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, where his family lived until 1872. The original home was completely demolished in 1916, but in 1919 the property was purchased to erect a replica of Roosevelt’s birthplace.
The Roosevelts rented Wave Hill House in the Bronx in 1870 and 1871, when Theodore was 12 and 13, in hopes to aid his asthma. The historians at Wave Hill believe these summers inspired Theodore’s later contributions to the conservation of natural parkland.
In 1880, Roosevelt purchased his own estate in Sagamore Hill on Long Island at the youthful age of 22, buying 155 acres of land for $30,000. By 1886, the Queen Anne style house was up, designed by the Manhattan firm of Lamb & Rich, who also designed Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and Barnard College. He lived here from until he died in 1919, using the house as his “Summer White House” while President of the United States for two terms from 1901 to 1909. Today, the house can be visited as one of the sites of the National Park Service, with guided tours.
4. Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore was born in a log cabin in the Finger Lakes region in Cayuga County, New York on January 7, 1800. He had a tough childhood, as his family struggled to make ends meet. The family lived in various places upstate like Sempronius, Moravia, and East Aurora, near Buffalo.
In Buffalo, Fillmore studied law, passed the New York bar exam and opened up a practice in East Aurora, later running for State Assembly. He returned to the law after his term, practicing in Buffalo, before winning a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served as New York State comptroller until he became Vice President until President Zachary Taylor. Fillmore became President of the United States in 1850 when Taylor died suddenly.
Following the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter in quick succession following his Presidency, Fillmore would remarry and settle in Buffalo where he became active in local organizations. Fillmore is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo (where incidentally, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a mausoleum).
5. Martin van Buren
Martin van Buren was born on December 5, 1782 in Kinderhook, New York in the Hudson Valley between Poughkeepsie and Albany. van Buren was a descendent of one of the early settlers of Dutch New Amsterdam, as his father was a descendent of Cornelis Maessen from the Netherlands who owned land on Manhattan.
Van Buren studied law and apprenticed in New York City in a Democratic-Republican attorney’s office, that of William P. Van Ness, who was a political lieutenant of Aaron Burr. He practiced the law in Kinderhook, got more involved in the county’s political life, and moved to Hudson, New York. In 1812, he was elected to New York State Senate and later New York Attorney General, upon which he moved to Albany. In 1821, he was nominated to the U.S. Senate. Under President Andrew Jackson, van Buren served as Secretary of State, then as Vice President. Jackson, who did not run for a second term, supported van Buren’s nomination for President in 1836.
Van Buren retired to Kinderhook and purchased Lindenwald in 1839 and lived there until his death in 1862. The house was renovated by Richard Upjohn, whose work can be seen throughout New York City. Today, the house is operated by the National Park Service, which runs daily tours of the estate.
Join us for our next tour of the Remnants of Dutch New Amsterdam:
Next, check out the NYC Presidential Haunts from President George Washington on!
