Grant Cottage State Historic Site

Grant Cottage State Historic Site, on the slope of Mount McGregor in Wilton, New York is an Adirondack mountain cottage first owned by banker Joseph W. Drexel. It was the site where Ulysses S. Grant died in 1885, and is a New York State Historic Site.

Grant stayed at the cottage for six weeks while completing his memoirs. Author and publisher Mark Twain gave Grant a $25,000 advance to write his autobiography. The 18th president of the U.S.A. completed the manuscript just three days before he died of throat cancer at the cottage. During the next two years, sales of the work netted his family nearly $450,000 in royalties. For decades after his death, thousands of Civil War veterans made a pilgrimage to this shrine outside Saratoga Springs. Thousands more visit Mt. McGregor annually to see the original artifacts preserved at this historic site.

Visitors can tour the historic house museum which has been furnished to reflect the Grant family's stay for six weeks in 1885. Some of the original floral arrangements from the funeral are on display, and the bed in which he died is shown in the bedroom. Also seen is the clock that was at the cottage when he died. It was stopped at 8:03am, July 23, 1885 by Frederick Dent Grant, who then reached over and touched his father's forehead for the last time. A marker is located outside the cottage on the spot where Grant had his last look of the valley; it had to be fenced off to stop visitors from chipping off pieces as souvenirs. A visitor center and gift shop are also located there. A plaque is located a short distance away from the cottage and memorializes the fact that Grant died there. A New York historic marker is located a few yards from the cottage.