McKinley House (in storage)
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This is the ancestral house of William McKinley, American President 1897 – 1901. His great-great-grandfather James McKinley had emigrated from Conagher, Ballymoney around 1743. William McKinley fought in the American Civil War and was the last Civil War veteran to become President. He was assassinated in the first year of his second term in office, at Buffalo's Pan-American exposition. He died eight days later.
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The house was originally located at Conagher, Ballymoney. Due for demolition, it was rescued, fully recorded, dismantled and taken to the Ulster American Folk Park in 1996.
In the early 1900s, the dwelling’s furniture and contents were removed to form part of an exhibit village, ‘Ballymaclinton’, which was reconstructed in London as part of the great Anglo-French Exhibition of 1908. For many years thereafter, the house was used as a store.
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It was substantial for its time, measuring 52ft by 20ft, with five rooms downstairs and at least two in a full loft upstairs, reached by a small permanent staircase in the kitchen.
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