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Photograph dated 1896 |
McKinley
House and Museum.
In 1890 the land upon which McKinley’s
house stood on Main Street, was needed as a site for the City
National Bank (later McKinley bank) It was not known who undertook
and financed the project, but McKinley’s house was cut in
two and the part in which McKinley had been born was moved to
Riverside Park, some time after 1896, possibly as a museum attraction.
The second half of the house was moved to Franklin alley and used
as a shop where the Harris rotary offset presses were made. |

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In 1894 the Riverside Park Company
constructed a dam across the Meander Creek so as to enlarge
the boating area. They stocked the water with fish in the hopes
of attracting the serious anglers
By 1901 the Riverside Park proved
to be unprofitable and the owners, William Allison, Clement
Souder, Frances Thomas, E. A. Hartzell, Maggie Hartzell, S.
S. Holeton, and Selina Holeton, sold the property
to Buckeye Leather Company for $1,700.
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During the late
1890's, after McKinley had been elected President , an effort
was made to preserve his birthplace. We do not know who undertook
the responsibility or expense, but the house was cut in two. The
part the president had been born in was moved to Riverside Park
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Photo
of the McKinley birthplace in its location at Riverside Park (corner
of Salt Springs and Rte. 46 in Mineral Ridge). PO1.1626
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With the demise of the amusement
park, the McKinley house was occupied by tenants on the Riverside
Park site until 1908. PO1.708 |
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In 1909 Mrs. Joseph
Wess, the former Lulu Mackey, the first female member
of the Trumbull County bar, decided to buy the house and restore
it as nearly as possible. Miss Mackey had it moved by Frank
Kramer to her property at McKinley Heights. She purchased the
other section and had it moved as well, then proceeded to create
a privately-owned museum which she operated until her death in 1934. |

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The museum was located on the
Tibbetts property where the McKinley Heights Plaza is today
at the intersection of Routes 422 and 169 ( Route 169 is still
referred to as Tibbetts-Wick Road).
After the new National McKinley
Memorial opened in 1917, people still visited this museum to
see some of the original McKinley furniture and artifacts collected
by Lulu Mackey.
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A postcard of the interior of the McKinley House
showcasing the fireplace, surrounded with woodwork of black walnut.
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A view of one of the interior bedrooms in the
original McKinley Birthplace museum in the 1920's. PO1.1903 |

Interior view of the law office situated in the
McKinley Museum on the Tibbetts property in McKinley Heights in
the 1920's. |
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McKinley Heights Museum, 1927. |

After falling into disrepair, vandals burned
the structure and it was destroyed on April 3, 1937. PO1.699 |

All that remained of the McKinley
Birthplace in McKinley Heights after the fire on April 3, 1937.
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The home was built in 1806 by Gideon
Hughes, the founder of the Rebecca Jane furnace in Lisbon, Ohio.
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In 1809, James McKinley, the president's
grandfather, migrated from Pennsylvania to this house in New Lisbon,
Ohio.
It was here the president's father
grew up. He married Nancy Allison in 1829 and sometime during
the 1830's moved his family to Niles. |

A postcard asking for donations
for the restoration of McKinley's birthplace by Mr. and Mrs. Wess
as the Mt. Vernon of Ohio. From the collection of Lulu Mackey
Wess. PO1.2317 |

In 2010 a new replica of the McKinley
birthplace was constructed on the original site on South Main
Street in Downtown Niles, Ohio. The building functions as a museum
and research center. |
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