President Hayes' son, Webb C. Hayes, and the Ohio Historical Society founded this unique institution. It houses President Hayes' personal and political papers, and the artifacts of his administration. Until President Franklin D. Roosevelt established his Library at Hyde Park, New York, it remained the nation's only such institution. Today, the Presidential Center Library holds more than one million manuscripts, nearly 100,000 books, pamphlets, and other material relating to his life, and administration.
Researchers regularly consult the rich collection of Ohio genealogical and local history resources.
It contains the original furnishings belonging to the President and his family. The Museum contains more than 10,000 objects that belonged to the President, his family, and his administration. Each year some 50,000 individuals visit the Home, Museum, and Library. Center guides and volunteers give educational tours through the Home and Museum. The 25-acre wooded estate includes gardens, a carriage house, more than a mile of historic hiking trails, and the tombs of the President and his wife Lucy.