A bronze plaque on the exterior wall of a gas station at the corner of William and East Winter Streets marks the birthplace of Rutherford B. Hayes, who was born here on 4 October 1822 and went on to become the 19th President of the United States. The house is long gone and the plaque is the only acknowledgment that anything significant happened on this particular corner.
It is worth stopping for thirty seconds, partly for the historical curiosity and partly because it captures something true about how American history sits in American towns: quietly, often on a building that has no idea it is supposed to be significant.
If you want more Hayes, the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums is in Fremont, Ohio, about 90 miles north, and holds the main collection of his papers and memorabilia.