An elderly couple from Maine visited the Daniel Webster Birthplace in Franklin one morning this week. Returning from vacation in Vermont, they noticed the road signs for the birthplace of the renowned New Hampshire statesman and decided to stop by. And that's how most people find this historic site, according to Jack Tobey, a member of the Franklin Historical Society who works at the birthplace on weekends in the summer.

"Most people are touring New England or touring New Hampshire and see it on the map and just show up," Tobey said.

Tobey said that about 240 people visited the Daniel Webster Birthplace last summer, and records showed about 100 visitors in the summer of 2007.

The birthplace is owned and managed by the state Division of Parks and Recreation and is one of 26 sites slated for an "alternative management strategy," according to a plan released earlier this month. The state does not have enough money to continue to maintain these parks and historical landmarks, according to the parks division.

The birthplace and the neighboring Sawyer House are located on a quiet road off Route 127 in Franklin, atop a small hill that slopes into the woods. Historians believe the cabin where Webster was born in 1782 stood on this piece of land. The cabin there today is a replica built by the Webster Birthplace Association in 1913.

"The cabin that is there today is a recreation of what, in 1913,

they thought the cabin looked like based on a drawing in The Complete Works of Daniel Webster," said Leigh Webb, president of the Franklin Historical Society. "They supposedly used some of the material from the original cabin, but that is more urban myth than fact."

The site has been under state control since 1917.

The Sawyer House is the only structure on the property that has a direct connection to Webster, but this connection has largely been forgotten, Webb said. Webster owned the building and lived there for part of his life. It was used as the site supervisor's office and as space for a living history program conducted by the Franklin Historical Society from 1997 to 2005.

All the buildings on the property are in poor condition. The Sawyer House has been closed to the public since 2005, when the state decided that its structural problems were a liability issue, according to Webb. The white paint is peeling off the Sawyer House and the foundation is visibly crumbling. Inside, Webb said the bricks in the fireplaces are concave because the floors are rotting from moisture problems in the basement. He also said the roof is leaking and mold is growing on all the ceilings.

"And the longer you let the place sit, the more expensive it gets to restore it," Webb said.

The small amount of state funding that this site receives is used to maintain the cabin, where Tobey teaches visitors about Webster. The cabin's roof was replaced in the early 1990s, and a backyard well was repaired in 2007. However, there are still problems with the plaster on the roof inside. Webb said that the cabin gets no money in the current state budget and the most that they have done recently is mow the lawn. The last repairs on the Sawyer House were made in the early 1990s.

An original Daniel Webster letter, as well as other artifacts from his life, are still stored in a locked room in the Sawyer House and cannot be taken by the historical society.

"There is considerable potential of damage to these artifacts because there is a tremendous amount of moisture in that room," Webb said. "It is not the proper atmosphere for them to be stored in."

But Webb believes the birthplace should be restored, despite the huge expense it would be for the state or any other organization that takes it on.

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