Garfield Tea House

The Garfield Tea House, in Elberon, New Jersey, is the only remaining structure directly related to President James A. Garfield's final trip to Elberon.

History

Garfield was shot by delusional religious fanatic Charles Julius Guiteau, disgruntled by failed efforts to secure a federal post, on July 2, 1881, less than four months after taking office. The Garfield Tea House was built from the railroad ties used to lay the emergency track that transported a dying President Garfield from the local Elberon train station to the oceanfront cottage where he died 12 days later. Garfield, a regular visitor to Long Branch, New Jersey, was brought to the resort to help him recover from his ultimately fatal gunshot wounds. [(2004) Monmouth County Historical Commission Grant-in-Aid]

In early September 1881, more than half a mile of tracks were laid in less than 24 hours by local residents when they learned that the ailing president was coming to Long Branch from Washington. Rather than move the president by a horse-drawn carriage over rough roads, the tracks enabled Garfield to be brought directly to the door of the Franklyn cottage. After Garfield died, the tracks were torn up and the wooden ties purchased by actor Oliver Byron, who had local carpenter William Presley build a tea house with them. It resided in the yard of Byron's summer cottage. One of the original rails is used as the ridgepole supporting the roof. The original colors of the building were red, white, and blue; today it is red and white. After several moves over the years, including one to the Presley home in North Long Branch, the tea house came to rest on the Long Branch Historical Museum grounds. [(2004) Monmouth County Historical Commission Grant-in-Aid]

Preservation

The Long Branch Historical Museum Association, which owns the structure, has mounted an aggressive effort to restore the Church of the Presidents and its grounds, on which the tea house rests. [ [http://www.churchofthepresidents.org www.churchofthepresidents.org ] ] Restoration of the tea house is part of the four-phase preservation plan to preserve the Church of the Presidents, currently in its second phase of restoration. The Garfield Tea House is located at 1260 Ocean Avenue in Elberon, just across the street from the Atlantic Ocean.

Preservation of the tea house will require lifting the building above grade, excavating to create a level surface, pouring a six-inch reinforced slab, and lowering the building onto the new foundation. The wood shingle roof must be replaced and the paint stripped from the exterior. Deteriorated railroad ties will be epoxy-consolidated; they will not be replaced.

Once the Church of the Presidents is restored, it and the Garfield Tea House will open to the public, serving as a museum to the presidents and people who vacationed here, and as a center of study of Long Branch and Jersey Shore history, particularly during the Gilded Age and especially of presidential recreation at that time.

References

External links

* [http://www.churchofthepresidents.org Church of the Presidents Web site]