First Ladies National Historic Site
The main entrance of the First Ladies National Historic Site.
First Ladies National Historic Site is located in Ohio
First Ladies National Historic Site
First Ladies National Historic Site is located in the United States
First Ladies National Historic Site
Map
Interactive map showing the location for First Ladies National Historic Site
Location205 and 331 Market Avenue South, Canton, Ohio
Coordinates40°47′48″N 81°22′31″W / 40.79667°N 81.37528°W / 40.79667; -81.37528
Area0.46 acres (0.0019 km2)[1]
Visitation11,187 (2023)[3]
WebsiteFirst Ladies National Historic Site
NRHP reference No.01000286
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 31, 2001[2]
Designated NHSOctober 11, 2000
The Saxton House, former home of Ida Saxton McKinley

First Ladies National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in Canton, Ohio. During her residency in Washington, D.C. Mary Regula, wife of Ohio representative Ralph Regula, spoke regularly about the nation's first ladies. Recognizing the paucity of research materials available she created a board to raise funds and for a historian to assemble a comprehensive bibliography on American first ladies. From these inspirations came a National First Ladies’ Library, established in 1996, and the First Ladies National Historic Site.[4]

Operations

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Established in 2000 to commemorate all the United States First Ladies, the First Ladies National Historic Site comprises two buildings: the Education & Research Center and the Ida Saxton McKinley historic home, which preserves the home of Ida McKinley, the wife of U.S. president William McKinley. The site is operated by the National First Ladies' Library in a partnership agreement with the National Park Service and managed by Cuyahoga Valley National Park.[5]

Maintenance cost issues

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Since its creation in the year 2000, the historic site has faced many problems. The maintenance cost was estimated in 2014 at $220,000 for a complete restoration. That figure kept climbing until the year 2017 when it needed $1,017,000. The cost decreased to $882,000 in 2018.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2012" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved May 5, 2025. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
  2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  3. ^ "Annual Park Ranking Report for Recreation Visits in: 2023". nps.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  4. ^ Dunak, Karen. 2014. "First Ladies National Historic Site and Saxton McKinley House." Journal of American History: 213-214.
  5. ^ Hutchison, John Arthur (February 13, 2015). "Cuyahoga Valley National Park named new manager of Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor". The News-Herald. Archived from the original on February 14, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  6. ^ "Identifying & Reporting Deferred Maintenance - Infrastructure (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Archived from the original on October 10, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
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