Field NotesOhio
Upper Falls in the Old Man's Cave gorge, Hocking Hills, with visitors on the rocks

An independent field guide · 365 places

The field guide to outdoor Ohio

Parks and forests, ancient mounds, caves, waterfalls and back roads, with the story behind each place and where to eat and fuel up nearby.
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  • 117parks & forests
  • 64ancient mounds
  • 34waterfalls
  • 40historic sites
  • 33road trips

Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills · Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0

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State parks & forests117 places, with cabins, campsites and trails117 places Waterfalls34 falls, with trail notes34 falls Mounds & earthworks64 ancient sites, from Serpent Mound to Newark64 ancient sites Caves & caverns12 show caverns, recess caves and rock shelters12 caves Lake Erie beaches20 public beaches, Conneaut to Toledo20 beaches Historic sites40 places, from the frontier to the Civil War40 places Road trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail33 drives Oddities19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops19 roadside stops The Buckeye TrailA 1,444-mile loop, all 26 sections1,444 miles

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Six places to start

One from every corner of the state, each with its full story inside.

01Old Man's CaveHocking Hills · SoutheastA gorge of waterfalls and recess caves where a hermit is said to have lived, with the park's visitor center. 02Great Serpent MoundAdams County · SouthwestA gigantic earthen snake on a hilltop over Ohio Brush Creek, built by a people whose name is still argued over. 03Brandywine FallsCuyahoga Valley · NortheastThe tallest waterfall in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, reached by an easy boardwalk with an accessible upper overlook. 04Marblehead LighthouseMarblehead · Lake ErieThe oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes, lit since 1821, on nine acres of limestone shoreline. 05Zoar VillageTuscarawas County · EasternA well-preserved communal village founded by German separatists in 1817, on the Ohio & Erie Canal. 06Longaberger Basket BuildingNewark · CentralA seven-story office building shaped like a picnic basket, with handles that are heated in winter.

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Lake ErieWest Virginia36 places368 places813 places135 places523 places2321 places2124 places2416 places1613 places134 places418 places182 places217 places1710 places1014 places142 places27 places76 places613 places133 places34 places414 places143 places3Harrison Lake State Park2 places22 places22 places26 places64 places4

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117 parks in 7 regions

U.S. Grant Boyhood Home and Schoolhouse

Georgetown · Brown County · Southern Ohio
Where Ulysses S. Grant lived until he left for West Point
National Historic LandmarkOhio History Connection
US Grant Boyhood Home and Schoolhouse, 219 E Grant Ave, Georgetown Directions →Official source →

The tannery-town house where the future general and president grew up, restored to the year he left for West Point.

Built
1823 by Jesse Grant, a tanner
Lived here
Ulysses S. Grant, from age one until he left for West Point in 1839, longer than in any other house of his life
Restored
To its 1839 appearance in a $1.4 million project finished in 2013
Also on the grounds
The two-room Dutch Hill schoolhouse he attended and a granite statue in the courthouse square
Owned by
The State of Ohio since the Ruthven family donated it in 2002
Nearby
Ripley's Rankin House and the Ohio River

The story

Jesse Grant built the house in 1823 in Georgetown, where he ran a tannery, and Ulysses S. Grant lived in it from the age of one until 1839, longer than in any other house of his life. The rooms have been restored to their 1839 appearance, and visitors also tour the two-room schoolhouse he attended. Grant left for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1839, when a clerical error at his nomination turned his name into Ulysses S. Grant.

In March 1859 he freed William Jones, a man he had inherited from his wife's family. In the Civil War his demand for 'unconditional and immediate surrender' of Fort Donelson in February 1862 made him famous as 'Unconditional Surrender' Grant, a nickname helped by his initials. That December, during the Vicksburg campaign, he issued General Order No. 11, expelling all Jews from his military district, which covered parts of Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky, in an effort to stop illicit trade in Southern cotton that he blamed 'mostly' on Jews and other traders. Jewish families were forced out of towns such as Holly Springs and Paducah, and the order caused such a protest that Lincoln rescinded it on January 4, 1863. Historians note that Grant was not otherwise known as antisemitic; he later admitted the criticism was deserved, and as president he named several Jews to high positions. He commanded all the Union armies from 1864 and served two terms as president, from 1869 to 1877.

Related sites

Visiting information you can trust

Check before driving — this site is seasonal, approximate, privately run, or otherwise uncertain. Confirm hours and access with the official source above.
Content last reviewed
September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source
Official page
Location confidence
Verified entrance or visitor center
US Grant Boyhood Home and Schoolhouse, 219 E Grant Ave, Georgetown
Seasonal access
May to October: Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; closed Monday and Tuesday. Call 877-372-8177 to arrange a group tour or if it is closed.
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets
Tickets or admission info

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

The Initials That Became a Nickname

When Grant's nomination reached West Point, a clerk wrote his name down as Ulysses S. Grant, and the cadet kept it. Two decades later, when he told the Confederate commander at Fort Donelson that only unconditional and immediate surrender would be accepted, the North read his initials as a war cry.

The boy from the tannery house in Georgetown became 'Unconditional Surrender' Grant.

Behind the legend

The 1823 build date, the 1839 departure, the restoration and the ownership are from the Ohio History Connection. The name error at his West Point nomination is in the Wikipedia article on the birthplace. The nickname and the Fort Donelson demand are from Ohio Civil War Central, HistoryNet and the Abraham Lincoln's Classroom site, and HistoryNet notes the nickname was inspired in part by his initials. General Order No. 11, Lincoln's rescinding of it, Grant's later admission and his appointments of Jews as president are from Wikipedia and HistoryNet. William Jones's freedom on March 29, 1859 is from American History Central and Ohio Civil War Central.

If you go

Tour the house and schoolhouse, walk to the statue on the courthouse square and add the Rankin House in Ripley for the antislavery side of the same region.

Visiting

Status
Open seasonally
Managed by
Ohio History Connection
Hours
May to October: Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; closed Monday and Tuesday. Call 877-372-8177 to arrange a group tour or if it is closed.
Admission
Adults $5, seniors $3, children 6 to 12 $3; members and children under 6 free. The ticket covers both the Boyhood Home and the Schoolhouse.
Phone
877-372-8177
Please note
Confirm hours before a long drive.
Address
219 E Grant Ave, Georgetown, OH 45121
Official information →DirectionsFind trails nearby on AllTrails →

Hours and prices change. Confirm with the site before you go.

Parks nearby

East Fork State Park
About 20 miles · A big camping lake to the west.
Open
Adams Lake State Park
About 30 miles · A small state park near the Serpent Mound.
Open

Buckeye Trail

Williamsburg Section
53 miles · on or near the Buckeye Trail
Open

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.

Know a place that belongs here, or spotted something out of date? Email hello@fieldnotesohio.com.