McKinley Presidential Library & Museum

Initially I thought that this museum was primarily focused on William McKinley, turns out this place is a lot more than that. While there is an exhibit on the former president, this museum is more focused on the history of the area instead of just President McKinley. There’s also a planetarium along with a natural history exhibit. You do not need admission to visit McKinley’s memorial but its hours of admission match those of the museum.

Pretty nice place but what made the visit special was the gentleman working on the 2nd floor. He was very knowledgeable about the McKinleys and you could tell he loves chatting with people about the artifacts. The planetarium was nice as well, the gentleman presenting was very entertaining.

Considering that just a few hours north, President Gerald Ford has an entire floor dedicated to his life, filled with eloquent markers along the way, each one illuminating the presidency, the White House, and the process of American governance, what exists for William McKinley is rather sparse on details or coherent storytelling. For example, over in Niles (where McKinley was born and where a couple of the pictures below were taken), there's a public library, with his name on it, that has nothing to do with him, and an adjacent museum that features a whole bunch of random people, with only a spattering of information about McKinley, his wife, or his family. The same is true when you get to Canton, because a multi-floor building with his name on the outside only gets a sliver of a back wall with information (or artifacts) about McKinley, yet again, as it was in Niles. Other presidents from Ohio have been given much more consistent, cohesive, comprehensive museums (Harding and Hayes being among them, neither of whom were nearly as remarkable in their times as McKinley was in his). What makes this visit worthy is the tomb, where you can quietly enter--because there won't be a crowd--whisper your eulogy in an echoing dome, and feel that you've corresponded, in some ethereal way, with a dead president.

We always love to visit the monument. Museum is a nice, cheap, educational experience for both adults & kids. Its a lovely place to walk and get some exercise. Also a nice place to take family & prom photos. So much to see and do they have playgrounds, pickelball courts and many other free outdoor & educational activities for all ages.

I got $14 off my ticket by being and EBT cardholder. You have to retrieve this discount in person, you can’t do it online ahead of time. It’s quick and easy to purchase tickets at the door. If you’re mostly looking forward to the dinosaurs, this isn’t the place. Majority of it is fake replicas and I can only recall one being marked as a replica. I wish they marked all of the replicas as replicas/copies. Basically anything that isn’t behind glass is a replica. Even though the Dunkleosteus is behind glass, the placard states it’s a copy. That aside, the interactive kids area is really cool that is similar to the OH WOW! Youngstown Ohio center, lots of STEM stuff. They have quite a few live reptiles and small fuzzy/feathered critters but their enclosures are REALLY small :/ that is very sad to me. I was not expecting that many live animals. The McKinley and Ida section is nice except I wish you could get closer to the household items around the animatronics. Note, They do NOT have any of Ida’s dresses yet as far as I know. There is a donation box for the museum to retrieve the dresses if you’d like to donate. They however DO have her crown, some shoes, little accessories. Don’t waste too much time in the first room on the second floor, it’s quite boring and I will note some of the descriptor papers are very hard to see or even find at all. Some things don’t even have a label. So keep an eye out because it might be hiding down below something in an inconspicuous area if you’re trying to figure out what an artifact is. Staff very nice. Two great restrooms. The gift shop is so cute and welcoming, highly recommend the Nancy’s Confections fudge cups, they taste like as they say they are, homemade.