William McKinley was the 25th President of the US and the second president to be assassinated, while in office. He was in office from 1897 to 1901. McKinley was in his 200 day of his second term when the assassination occurred. To read more about McKinley see link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McKinley

I expected to see a memorial that was not as large as the National Mall. This memorial was grandiose and could rival any National Mall Memorial.

The monument was completed in 1907 with the support of $600,000 in donations and material donations from 9 different states. The circular domed granite building rises 96 feet above ground and measures 79 feet in diameter. The double bronze doors of the entrance were the largest in the nation at the time of installation. There are 108 stone steps that lead up to the mausoleum and a statue of the McKinley half way up.

The Memorial design was to look like McKinley’s sword during battle (Note: McKinley was the last president to have served in the civil war.) I went to Google earth and took a screen shot of the park. The park really does look like a sword. I did not realize this until after visiting and reading literature about McKinley. The grassy part (knife of the sword) used to be a pool. The knife part was replaced with grass in 1951.

To read more about the monument click on link: https://www.nps.gov/places/william-mckinley-tomb.htm

Our first picture was a small waterfall / stream that was near the monument parking lot. The waterfall was prettier from afar because the stream was full of weeds and limbs. The weeds and limbs negative was countered by seeing a few fish and dragonflies. John thought the dragonflies were new ones. Unfortunately, we were unable to get a picture and verify.

The next stop was the park sign and viewing the monument from the sword end. This is where you can really see the monument and how it rivals the National Mall monuments. This would have been even more impressive with the pool. Though based on the National Mall pool and Trumps rhetoric on upkeep, it is probably better not to have to maintain the pool.

Approaching from the left side, you see the (pay) McKinley Presidential Library and Museum (and restrooms). The Museum is not part of the National Park system, and it is responsible for maintaining the memorial.

There were also some decorations with no apparent relation to anything.

It did not look like it originally, but the monument did have handicap access. It looks like it might be an elevator to a tunnel under the monument, and another elevator that arrives inside the monument. Either that, or it is a weird Willy Wonka horizontal and vertical elevator.

Just before we started going up the 108 steps of the monument, a bunch of kids left the Museum to tour the monument. The kids decided the sides of the monument made a great slide. Not too surprisingly, at least one kid was dragged out of the memorial for being disrespectful.

Halfway up the steps, there is a statue to McKinley.

Looking back down from the top of the steps, you can see the statue to McKinley and the “blade” of the sword. Looking up the steps, you can see the memorial tomb.

The engraving in monument shows that construction was started in 1905. Two informational signs on the top platform give details about it.

Inside of the monument, there is a tomb to President McKinley and his wife plus their two young daughters.

The ceiling had a beautiful dome with a stained glass center piece.

The inside also included two informational plaques.

Some of the interior pictures did not turn out. I recommend looking at the link to see the interior: https://mckinleymuseum.org/mckinley-national-memorial/

On the other side of the memorial at the bottom is a memorial honoring soldiers of all wars.

From here we left in search of the Frankenstein Family grave sites.