Saxton McKinley House — Attraction in Canton

We visited on a Saturday morning in mid-April 2025.

There is a free small parking lot adjacent to the Saxton House. But you need to get tickets to tour it and that is available at the visitor center which is actually at the other corner of the street. So turn and walk in the other direction down Market Ave. You'll see on the ground a medal marker that says "First Ladies National Historic Site" with brick that leads to the main entrance. It reminded me of the Boston Historic Trail. There are stairs to get up here and there is a sign for wheelchair accessibility to go around the corner of the building to the left.

The entrance way is pretty cool inside and you'll come to a hallway. If you make the first left it's the information desk with a large exhibit room. Everything in here is super ornate. If you're looking for the National Park Cancellation Stamp, it's to the right of the info booth. They also have two large stamps for the site.

We asked first about the tour of the Saxton House and apparently it was free on the day we went because it was the start of National Park Week and National Junior Ranger Day. We didn't realize so this was a happy coincidence. The tours typically cost $7 per adult and $6 for seniors. Not sure about children as the sign that day had covered that part. They also have a 15 person capacity and at the time were offering tours at 10AM, 11AM, 12PM and 2PM. The Saxton House is available by guided tour only.

The house itself was amazing and we got to go to 3 different floors of the house and definitely worth the visit if you can swing it and have time. We started through the main entrance facing the street. We started with the room to the left and went through the dining room and into the kitchen and circled back around.

We took the elevator up to the 3rd floor. This was one large bedroom that you can walk through and there are exhibit items all around the outer wall. There was also a longer adjacent room that was like a office or study if I remember correctly. Most the furniture is roped off but you can still get a good look. There is a short film they play on the TV before the ranger starts talking more about the room. We got a few mins to look around on our own here as well.

We took the elevator down to the second floor. This had a bed room as well but was more sectioned off and everything was behind velvet ropes. Still very look to walk through and then we took the stairs down to the first floor. They were not allowing guests to use the stairs between the 2nd and 3rd floors.

I think we had about a dozen people in our tour group and it took us about 30-45 mins if I had to venture a guess. The ranger was super knowledgeable and answered all our questions. You do get time to explore the house on your own for a few mins after the ranger is done with their presentation. We never felt rush the entire time we were in there. There is an elevator in the house so the tour should be wheel chair accessible.

We would visit the visitor center again if we are passing through like we were this time coming back home from Cleveland, OH. Not sure we would do the tour of the Saxton House again as there is a cost associated with it. We didn't get to watch the film and really read many of the exhibits in the visitor center because of time. The Saxton House and Visitor Center were definitely worth the...

Highly recommend doing this tour if you find yourself in Canton. You'll learn quite a lot about William and Ida McKinley. It's a great pairing with the McKinley memorial and museum to get a crash course in the life and legacy of America's 25th president, and the history of Canton as a whole.

It's a beautifully restored and fascinating home full of history and stocked with the McKinleys' actual possessions. Tours are at 10, noon, and 2, and you get admission a block north at the First Ladies' library and then walk over with your tour group. Only complaints I have is that as a resident of Charleston, SC, where there are countless historic homes far older than this, this one FEELS a tad too restored, and it's also disappointing how much of it is off limits...

The Saxon house is a wonderful, restored residence of former first lady Ida Saxton Mckinley. You can enter the inside of the house only via a guided tour which costs $7 per person (there are discounts offered for certain things).

The tour runs about an hour and often sells out during the weekends. The tour includes all three floors of the house and uses and elevator to travel between floors. All of the rooms are very well decorated...