If you have a crowd (family reunion, bus tour, office outing, etc.) of 10 people or more, you qualify for a group tour! Trained docents guide you on a 70-90 minute tour of the elegant home of Indiana’s only U.S. president. The dining room features presidential china, and Harrison’s study is filled with personal belongings from his White House years and his oval office desk. The majority of the house furnishings—which give an accurate view of the Victorian era—are original to the Harrison family, including stunningly recreated original wallpaper designs in the parlors and library.
The third floor ballroom exhibit changes yearly. A grand feature of our tours is that you are able to directly enter most historic rooms of the museum. However, there are three flights of stairs. An elevator provides ease of access for the first two floors should your guests require it; an elevette allows access to the third floor ballroom. Periods of standing are required throughout the tour.
We do offer the option of a tour guide boarding your bus to give an overview of the first floor before your guests enter the museum. We want to maximize the enjoyment of your experience.
Questions? Contact us with any questions at (317) 631-1888.
The museum is located on Delaware Street, a northbound one-way street, on the west (left) side between the intersections of 11th Street and 13th Street.
Buses are welcome to enter through the Johnson-Floyd Family Presidential Commons, located directly behind the overpass of 165, before you reach the museum. Turn left immediately after the overpass and stop to unload under the portico. You are welcome to park there after unloading. Please allow for other buses to park behind you. Parking in the bus lane or on Delaware Street is free.
Unloaded students should walk down the Presidential Promenade, which runs through the middle of the grounds.
Benjamin and Caroline Harrison personally welcome visitors to their home on special live enactor tour days. The Harrisons discuss their lives both as Indianapolis residents and as White House residents, while their dedicated staff shares family secrets with guests. This special program is offered four times a year: Presidents’ Day in February, Primary Day in May, Election Day in November, and a Saturday in mid-December featuring a Harrison Family Christmas. Check Events page for specific dates, times and costs.
For an additional fee, we are able to make arrangements for a special welcome from enactors portraying the President or First Lady.
The Harrisons move to Delaware Street in 1875, and many city leaders and captains of industry made Delaware Street a desired place to live in Indianapolis. Now known as the Old Northside, this area was home to author Meredith Nicholson, the meeting place of suffragette May Wright Sewall, the residence of Charleston Eden— founder of the first indoor mall in America.
The homes on this tour match the past occupants’ classical, playful and eccentric personalities. You will learn the history of the homes, their residents and architectural styles. You will be given a handout with glossary of terms that will allow you to be a hunter of historic architecture in whatever neighborhood you chose to visit next.
The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site will be closed from Saturday, May 25-Monday May 27 in observance of Memorial Day.
Thank you for being an important part of the Presidential Site and sharing a legacy in action!