First Ladies National Historic Site

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]

First Ladies National Historic Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Site
The main entrance of the First Ladies National Historic Site.
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Interactive map showing the location for First Ladies National Historic Site
Location	205 and 331 Market Avenue South, Canton, Ohio
Coordinates	40°47′48″N 81°22′31″W
Area	0.46 acres (0.0019 km2)[1]
Visitation	11,187 (2023)[2]
Website	First Ladies National Historic Site
NRHP reference No.	01000286
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	January 31, 2001[3]
Designated NHS	October 11, 2000

The Saxton House, former home of Ida Saxton McKinley

Operations

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

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

• Bibliography of United States presidential spouses and first ladies