Historic Roswell home holds unique place in presidential history

ROSWELL, Ga. - From Jimmy Carter’s hometown of Plains to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia’s presidential roots run deep — and they include a home called Bulloch Hall, built in 1839 and tucked away in downtown Roswell.

Bulloch Hall was the childhood home of Martha "Mittie" Bulloch, who would grow up to marry New Yorker Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and give birth to the future 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. Today, the house is one of three historic home museums owned by the City of Roswell.

"What’s truly fascinating is that Roosevelt’s — T. R.’s — history, in many ways, is a great correlation to what happened to us as a people," says Roswell mayor Kurt Wilson. "Because he had a Northern father and Southern mom. And that really showed up … throughout his life."

President Roosevelt visited the home in 1905, during a tour of the South; although his schedule was packed with stops at major cities in the region, historians say he specifically made time to visit Roswell and Bulloch Hall.

"It was a reconciliation tour, to bring the North and the South back together," says city archivist Elaine DeNiro. "And, of course, one of the stops was to Roswell, so that he could visit the girlhood home of his mother."

"He was very passionate about the country," adds Friends of Bulloch Hall board member Gwen Koehler. "And he really felt that if he brought his presence here, he would help bond people back together."

The Roswell Historical Society is currently designing an exhibit for The Roswell History Museum called "Presidential Connections to Roswell." The Society will be hosting a fundraiser and ribbon-cutting for the exhibit on April 6, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center — for more information on the event, click here.