McKinley Park / William McKinley

Side A: William McKinley was the 25th President of the United States. Following McKinley’s assassination in 1901, the Village of Jackson dedicated this triangle of land as a park in his honor. Earlier in the nineteenth century, a small school had occupied the plot. In 1902, a local commission was appointed to oversee the development of a park. It was not, however, until 2012 that the Jackson Garden Lovers Club finished the commission’s long overdue work. The park was dedicated in 2013, 111 years after it began. Side B: William McKinley was born on January 29, 1848 in Niles, Ohio. He served in the Civil War and in 1863 fought at the Battle of Buffington Island against Morgan’s Raiders. A Republican, McKinley served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1877-1891 and was Ohio’s governor from 1892-1896. He was elected president in 1896 and re-elected in 1900. McKinley was shot in Buffalo, New York on September 6, 1901 and died eight days later. On September 14, 1901, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show was to perform in Jackson. Upon the news of the President’s death, the evening performance was cancelled.