Staunton author writes guide to summer travel visiting president’s homes in Virginia

Heather Cole was homeschooling her kids several years ago and wanted “a way to keep their brains engaged over the summer.”

“We spent the summer visiting all the presidential homes in the state,” she said.

When working as a tour guide with the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum in Staunton, Cole met other families doing a similar tour around the state.

The experience with her children and interest in presidential sites in Virginia led Cole to write a travel guide to the eight Virginia-born presidents and the sites that shaped their lives.

Virginia’s Presidents: A History and Guide published in January from The History Press takes readers from Staunton to Charles City and from Wytheville to Winchester to learn about the presidents’ lives, get a glimpse inside their homes and plan for a history road trip.

More U.S. presidents were born in Virginia than any other state, Cole said. The book includes George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson.

“And there are more than two dozen historic sites in Virginia, D.C. and beyond, that tell the stories of their lives and the impact they had on our nation.”

Each chapter includes facts and trivia about each president and important information about what each accomplished in the White House. Each chapter also includes information on museums, historic homes and other sites where families can go to learn more.

Some things that you’ll learn by reading the book:

• Do you know which Virginia-born president is believed to have started the French and Indian War?
• Or which one had more children than any other U.S. president?
• Or which one served only one month in office?
• Or which one had his body exhumed more than 100 years after his death to quell rumors that he had been poisoned?

Cole will discuss her book and ideas for a summer road trip on Thursday at the Augusta County Library in Fishersville at 4 p.m.

Cole, a Staunton-based public historian and writer, has worked in a variety of museums and archives over the years. She currently works as an archivist for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville.

Virginia’s Presidents: A History and Guide is her third book for The History Press.