WIP · World in Pocket

William McKinley statue

Arcata, Italy

William McKinley statue

The Statue of William McKinley is a 8.5-foot (2.6 m) bronze statue of President of the United States William McKinley. The statue, sculpted by Haig Patigian, stood in the center of the town plaza in Arcata, California, from 1906 to 2019, when it was moved to Canton, Ohio. This statue of McKinley was

commissioned by 81-year-old 49'er George Zehndner in 1905. Zehndner had met McKinley in 1901 and was much impressed by "the first modern president". The president's assassination soon after moved Zehndner to memorialize the president. Zehndner paid $15,000 for the nine-foot statue. The statue was sculpted by Haig Patigian in San Francisco, California, where it fell over during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake but was cushioned by a large plaster model that had braced its fall. The artist discovered his statue lying down in a foundry near the waterfront south of Market Street in San Francisco. Patigian feared his statue might melt, but he had to leave it since it was too large for him to move. A week later, the foundry owner told Patigian that the statue had been destroyed. Patigian later discovered that his statue of McKinley had been saved from the burning foundry by the employee of...

Listen to the audio guide for William McKinley statue Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off

Nearby