Public Information Meeting Scheduled for May 23

Free Pre-Registration Required to Attend

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) today announced a public meeting to collect input on a strategic development plan for Grant Cottage State Historic Site. Located atop Mount McGregor in Saratoga County, the historic site sits at the municipal intersections of the Towns of Moreau, Wilton, and Corinth. The property includes a two-story residence where U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, diagnosed with terminal throat cancer, completed his memoirs shortly before his death in July 1885. The site was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2021.

The proposed strategic development plan is intended to serve as a sustainable blueprint for long-term improvements at the site. The plan focuses on sitewide visitor accessibility, safety, and expansion to support programming and outdoor recreation. Grant Cottage is adjacent to Moreau Lake State Park, and the Palmertown Range Trail Network, including Lake Bonita, Lake Ann, and their associated trails.

The public information meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 23, at 6:30 p.m. in the Gideon Putnam Room of the Saratoga-Capital Regional Administration Building, located at 19 Roosevelt Drive Saratoga Springs, New York, 12866. During the meeting, staff will make a presentation about the plan and be available to receive verbal comments. OPRHP encourages the public to participate in the public meeting and welcomes all comments on the draft development plan.

Established as a State Historic Site in 1957, Grant Cottage remains essentially the same as during the Grant family's stay in the summer of 1885. The site is cooperatively managed by OPRHP and the Friends of the Ulysses S. Grant Cottage through a partnership agreement. Open to the public seasonally, visitors may visit the spacious wrap around porch, tour the cottage, view its first-floor original furnishings, decorations, and personal items belonging to Grant. There is also a short path to the Eastern Overlook, which commands a spectacular view of the Hudson Valley, from the Adirondacks in the north, the Green Mountains of Vermont to the east, and the Catskills to the south.

To accommodate those unable to attend the information meeting in-person, the event will also be live streamed online. The meeting will be recorded and made available for viewing on the agency’s website at a later date. To participate in the meeting, please pre-register by e-mailing ParksPlanning.Info@parks.ny.gov or by calling 518-584-2000, ext. 220, no later than Friday, May 19, at 12:00 p.m.

The meeting will be accessible to people with disabilities. Anyone requiring a reasonable accommodation for effective communications should contact Owen Gilbo at owen.gilbo@parks.ny.gov or at (518) 402-2648 no later than 48 hours before the scheduled event.

Public input can be provided at the meeting, mailed to Paige Barnum, NYS OPRHP, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY, 12238, or e-mailed to ParksPlanning.Info@parks.ny.gov. Comments will be accepted until Wednesday, June 7, 2023.