Rutherford B. Hayes was born at this site on October 4, 1822, to Sophia Hayes, three months after his father, Rutherford, died of a fever. The Hayes family rented the property, originally owned by Delaware founder Moses Byxbe, while their home was being built at the northeast corner of William and Franklin Streets, and Sophia and her three children moved there in 1823. The brick home later fell into disrepair and was purchased in 1921 by Standard Oil, which, after learning it was a presidential birthplace, offered the first $500 and to sell the home back to the community for $8,000. Organizations tried to raise the money to buy it but collected only $4,760, and the home was demolished and replaced with a Standard Oil gas station. In 2019, a statue of Hayes commissioned by Rutherford B. Hayes Heritage Fund was placed at the corner of William and Sandusky Street.

Photo: Beach & Bodurtha / Library of Congress via Wikipedia Commons

Photo: J. J. Prats