Wheatland
Manheim Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The home of James Buchanan, statesman, diplomat and the fifteenth President of the United States (1857-61), is located on Marietta Avenue, seven blocks south. Buchanan maintained Wheatland as his home from 1848 until he died there on June 1, 1868.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Wheatland was the beloved country home of James Buchanan, the Lancaster lawyer and diplomat who became the fifteenth President of the United States. He bought the estate in 1848 and made it his base through a long career—minister to Russia and Britain, secretary of state, and finally president from 1857 to 1861, presiding over the nation as it slid toward disunion. He returned here after leaving office and died at Wheatland in 1868.
Why it matters
As the home of the only president from Pennsylvania and the last elected before the Civil War, Wheatland preserves the setting of a presidency defined by the crisis that split the nation.
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Related people
- · James Buchanan
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Wheatland
Lancaster Township, PA · est. 1947
Wheatland was the gracious country home of James Buchanan, the only U.S. president from Pennsylvania, who lived here from 1849 until his death. Before reaching the White House in 1856, Buchanan had built a long career as congressman, senator, secretary of state, and minister to England — a seasoned diplomat whose single term nonetheless foundered on the sectional crisis that led to civil war.
John F. Reynolds (1820-1863)
Lancaster, PA · est. 2008
Born and raised in Lancaster, John F. Reynolds became one of the Union Army's most respected commanders during the Civil War. On July 1, 1863, he played a decisive role in committing the Army of the Potomac to battle at Gettysburg, only to be killed in the fighting's first hours. He was brought home and buried in Lancaster Cemetery.
James Buchanan
Lancaster, PA · est. 1951
James Buchanan, the fifteenth President of the United States, made his home in Lancaster and lies buried at Woodward Hill Cemetery just south of here. A seasoned diplomat and lawmaker, Buchanan led the nation during the fraught years of 1857 to 1861, as the quarrel over slavery pushed the Union toward rupture. He left office as Southern states began to secede, handing the crisis to his successor, Abraham Lincoln.
James Buchanan
Lancaster, PA · est. 1950
James Buchanan — lawyer, diplomat, and the fifteenth President of the United States — is buried in this Lancaster cemetery, about 350 yards to the southeast. He made his home at Wheatland, on Marietta Avenue, before and after occupying the White House from 1857 to 1861. Buchanan led the nation in the tense years just before the Civil War, and his inability to halt the slide toward secession has shaped his reputation ever since.