Where TR Hung His Hat

1858:  TR was born on October 27, 1858 in a narrow four-story brownstone in New York City on 20th Street.  Although the original house was demolished in 1916, it was rebuilt using the original blueprints.  In 1869 the Museum of Natural History Charter was signed in the Roosevelt parlor.

1876:  Roosevelt moved to Cambridge to attend Harvard.  There he rented a room on the second floor of a house at the corner of Winthrop and Holyoke Streets.  He returned to his family's NYC home after graduation and stayed there with Alice for the first two years of their marriage.

1882:  TR and Alice rented an apartment at 55 West 45th Street.  

1883: Roosevelt traveled west to what is now North Dakota.  He acquired rights to a briefly ranch and lived in the Maltese Cross Cabin.

1884:  After Alice's death TR moved in with his sister at 422 Madison Avenue.  All three of the NYC buildings have been demolished and replaced by commercial properties.  TR also returned to the Badlands and purchased a second ranch the Elkhorn that has since been demolished.  TR also began the construction of his 22-room home in Oyster Bay that was to become his primary residence.  The house was to be built for his first wife Alice and looked very much like the Lee family home outside of Boston.  The house was designed by Lamb and Rich and built for $16,975 by John A. Woods and Son. in Lawrence.   Construction began in March 1884 and finished in May 1885.  It is a year older than the Statue of Liberty and a year younger than the Brooklyn Bridge.

1889:  Roosevelt was named to the US Civil Service Commissioner by Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of the 9th president Henry Harrison.  He was recommended by his good friend Henry Cabot Lodge.  Up until that time Roosevelt was making a living as an author.  He moved the family to Washington DC.  and rented a house at 1820 Jefferson Place NW.  

1895: He returned to New York and Sagamore Hill when he became President of the NYC Police Commission.   He and the family would often stay  at Anna's house at 689 Madison Avenue.  That apartment would later play a pivotal role in his campaign for Governor of New York.   The Governor was required to maintain a continuous 5 year residency in the state prior to the election.   However, most of the time Roosevelt was living in Washington as a Civil Service Commissioner and Assistant Secretary of the Navy.  He had only been living in NY in 1885 for one year when he was on the Police Commission. However, using some legalistic footwork, Roosevelt was able to establish 689 Madison Avenue had been his legal residence in the years in question and was able to secure the governorship.

1897:  When McKinley named TR Assistant Secretary of the Navy TR returned to Washington DC. where he resided at 1910 N Street NW.  That building has been demolished.

1899:  Roosevelt became Governor of New York and moved into the Governor's Mansion in Albany.   

1901:  TR was elected Vice President and once again returned to Washington DC.  When McKinley was assassinated Roosevelt took the took the oath of office at the home of a friend Ansley Wilcox, 641 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, N.Y..  

1901:  Roosevelt moves into the White House after McKinley had died September 14, 1901.   In the Summer TR moved the family to Sagamore Hill which became the fist official Summer White House.  In the fall of 1902 Edith was renovating the White House and the family and presidency relocated to a townhouse at 736 Jackson Place NW.   It was in the townhouse that Roosevelt helped negotiate a settlement to the 1902 Coal Strike.

1909 - 1919:  After the presidency TR returned to Sagamore Hill and lived there until his death in 1919.