A classical statue was erected in his honor soon after his death

The burial train for President Garfield departed Long Branch on the same unique track that had brought him there, passing through homes with flags flying and across tracks covered in flowers. His remains were brought to the Capitol before being moved on to Cleveland for burial. Following Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Millar Fillmore, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses S. Grant, Garfield was the final of seven presidents to hold office in a log cabin. On the grounds of the Village Hall in Moreland Hills, Ohio, there is a duplicate of the original Garfield cabin (formerly Orange Township). The Moreland Hills Historical Society looks after and manages the James Garfield Memorial Cabin.

Garfield gained an honor on par with other notable American presidents within six years, despite his brief and rather uneventful presidency. The Garfield monument was unveiled in 1887 at the base of the Capitol building by sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward, who is arguably best known for his enormous bronze statue of George Washington, which is located on the grounds of his inauguration at Federal Hall in New York. Along the granite pedestal base of the statue, which features Garfield giving a speech, are three more figures: a pupil (marking Garfield's time spent teaching), a warrior (representing his time spent in the military), and an elderly man wearing a toga (to signify his political career).