McKinley National Memorial, Canton

About McKinley National Memorial

The William McKinley National Memorial in Canton honors the nation's 25th president at his final resting place. Visitors climb 108 steps to reach an ornate granite and marble monument topped with a neoclassical dome, where McKinley and his wife Ida rest in elevated sarcophagi. The adjacent William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum traces McKinley's life and presidency, along with the history of Canton and Stark County. The museum houses around 3,500 artifacts including McKinley's walking stick and Ida's sewing bag with her husband's photograph. Exhibits feature a multimedia kiosk with film footage of McKinley and his 1901 funeral, plus life-size animatronic figures of the president and his wife. The facility also includes a planetarium. The memorial was dedicated in 1907 with a speech by Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded McKinley after his assassination at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.