06/13/2026
Celebrate July 4 at Spiegel Grove
By KRISTINA SMITH Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums marketing and communications manager
FREMONT - America turns 250 on Saturday, July 4, and the site of America's first presidential library has a day full of old-fashioned events and its annual Independence Day Concert to celebrate.
At the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums site in Fremont, enjoy a day of nostalgic fun with a picnic or food truck fare; the concert performed by the Toledo Concert Band, featuring members of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra; deeply discounted admission of $2.50 for a site pass to tour the Hayes Home and museum; games and crafts; historical talks; and more.
The museum will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for self-guided tours. Hayes Home tours begin at 9:30 a.m., will last a half hour and cover the first floor of the home only. The tours will include information about President Rutherford B. Hayes' ancestors and their ties to colonial and Revolutionary War era history.
The $2.50 site passes include admission to the museum and a timed Hayes Home tour. A limited number of admissions can be purchased in advance at rbhayes.org and then search for "Celebrate America's 250th birthday with a day of events." The rest will be sold to walk-ins the day of the event. Those who wish to tour just the home or museum can choose to do just one, but the price is still $2.50. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums members are admitted for free.
All visitors touring the Hayes Home, including advance ticket holders, must check in at the museum front desk.
Special America 250 events are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hayes Presidential is one of America 250-Ohio's picnic sites, and guests are invited to bring a picnic or purchase food from one of the food trucks that will be on site to enjoy on the grounds. Food trucks are Jimmy G's barbecue, Frozen Paradice, Tim's Bar and Grill Food Trailer and the Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor Traveling Root Beer Stand.
The USS Spiegel Grove Association, whose members are U.S. Navy sailors who served aboard the ship USS Spiegel Grove, will also dedicate a new exhibit area for the ship's bell, which is currently on display in the museum's weapons room. The ship was purposely sunk off Florida to create an artificial reef.
The association has been raising money to create a base for the bell, which sits on the floor in the weapons room. That base and two plaques will be dedicated at noon in the museum.
The day's events will culminate with the annual Independence Day Concert, performed by the Toledo Concert Band from 2-3:30 p.m. on the verandah of the Historic Hayes Home. In a Fourth of July tradition, the "1812 Overture" will be punctuated with cannon fire.
Bring a chair or blanket for seating on the spacious Hayes Home lawn. Admission to the picnic, games, talks and concert is free.
Parking is on-site weather permitting. Overflow parking is available on the street and in ProMedica Memorial Hospital's parking lots at Buildings A and B, located at 605 Third Ave.
Spiegel Grove is a short walk to the east of the hospital parking lots. A golf cart will be available to shuttle people around Spiegel Grove.
The full schedule of events is as follows:
• 9 a.m. - Museum opens
• 9:30 a.m. - First Hayes Home tour begins; Tours last 30 minutes and are of the first floor only. All visitors touring the Hayes Home, including advance ticket holders, must check in at the museum front desk.
• 10-10:30 a.m. - Presentation: "Life in Colonial America" by Josh Dubbert, Hayes Presidential historian, in the history lab in the museum's lower level, which is included with regular admission; Hayes Presidential members are admitted for free. In today's landscape of gas stations, strip malls, fast food restaurants and all other manner of stops along the highways of America, it can be hard for us to conceive that, when the first white settlers who voyaged across the ocean to this continent, they met a vast wilderness populated by a multitude of indigenous cultures and without any of the conveniences of home. This program looks at the evolution of daily life in the colonies from the arrival of Columbus to the formation of the U.S.
• 10:30-11 a.m. - Presentation: "Signers of the Declaration of Independence" by Dubbert in the history lab; In 1776, 56 delegates representing each of the 13 colonies signed what would become one of the most daring, revolutionary and complex documents in human history. Had the Revolutionary War been lost, the Declaration of Independence would have served as a death warrant for these men. In this program, several of these American revolutionaries will be discussed, highlighting some of the well-known and lesser-known of the signers and their roles before and after the winning of independence for the U.S.
• 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. - Kids' activities in four locations: auditorium, museum south side yard, grassy area behind Hayes Home and Rose Garden Path
• 11:30 a.m. - Homecoming picnic begins, food trucks begin serving
• 11:30 to noon - Presentation: "Life in Colonial America" by Dubbert in the history lab
• Noon - 12:30 p.m. - Presentation: "Signers of the Declaration of Independence" by Dubbert in the history lab
• 12:30-1 p.m. - Unveiling of the USS Spiegel Grove Bell Exhibit, museum lower level
• 1-4 p.m. - Golf cart shuttle available
• 1:15-1:30 p.m. - President Hayes living history presenter gives speech on America's founding, speakers' platform, museum south side yard
• 1:40-1:50 p.m. - Christie Weininger, Hayes Presidential executive director, introduces members of USS Spiegel Grove Association, who will read the Declaration of Independence
• 1:50-2 p.m. - Weininger makes welcoming remarks and introduces President Hayes' living history presenter, who will introduce the Toledo Concert Band
• 2-3 p.m. - Independence Day Concert
• 4:30 p.m. - Last house tour of the day begins
People can call 419-332-2081 or visit rbhayes.org for more information.
From the Register 6/13/26
