Little White House
|
Little White House
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
| Location | Warm Springs, Georgia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°52′53″N 84°41′15.5″W / 32.88139°N 84.687639°WCoordinates: 32°52′53″N 84°41′15.5″W / 32.88139°N 84.687639°W |
| Built | 1932 |
| Part of | Warm Springs Historic District (#74000694) |
| Designated CP | July 30, 1974 |
The Little White House was the personal retreat of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, located in the Historic District of Warm Springs, Georgia. He first came to Warm Springs (formerly known as Bullochville) in 1924 for polio treatment, and liked the area so much that, as Governor of New York, he had a home built on nearby Pine Mountain. The house was finished in 1932. Roosevelt kept the house after he became President, using it as a presidential retreat. He died there on April 12, 1945, three months into his fourth term.
The house was opened to the public as a museum in 1948. A major attraction of the museum is the portrait that the artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff was painting of him when he died, now known as the "Unfinished Portrait". It hangs near a finished portrait that Shoumatoff completed later from sketches and memory.
The house is operated by the State of Georgia as the Little White House Historic Site, also known as Roosevelt's Little White House Historic Site.
Residents of Georgia, particularly Savannah, began spending vacations at Bullochville in the late 18th century as a way to escape yellow fever, attracted by the number of warm springs in the vicinity. In the late 19th century, traveling to the warm springs was a desirable way to escape from Atlanta. Traveling by railroad to Durand, people would then go to Bullochville. One of the places benefiting from this was the Meriwether Inn. Once the automobile became popular in the early 20th century, tourists began going elsewhere, starting the decline of the inn.
In 1921, Roosevelt, aged 39, was diagnosed with poliomyelitis. The few things that seemed to ease his pain was immersion in warm water, bathing and engaging in physical exercise. His first time in Warm Springs was October 1924. He went to a resort in the town that had a permanent 880F natural spring, but whose main house was described as "ramshackle". Roosevelt bought the resort and the 1,700-acre (6.9 km2) farm surrounding it in 1927 (the resort became known as the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation). Five years later, in 1932, after winning the presidency for the first time, he ordered a six-room Georgia pine house to be built on the property. This house was his retreat throughout his presidency and became known as the Little White House. In total, he made 16 trips there during his presidency, usually spending two to three weeks at a time, as it took a day to reach Warm Springs from Washington, D.C. by train.
...
Wikipedia