Marion is home to the Harding Presidential Sites.
Warren G. Harding was the 29th President of the United States. From Marion, Ohio, he was a newspaperman who owned the Marion Daily Star. In 1920 he campaigned for president from his front porch, attracting 600,000 people over three months. Harding's time in office was short - he died of a heart attack in August 1923. Since 1926, his Marion home has been open to the public for tours and in 1927 a memorial was completed where he and his wife are buried. In 2021 the Harding Presidential Library was dedicated. Site Manager Sherry Hall gave us a fascinating overview of the project including a 2 year, $1.3 million restoration of the Harding Home that was painstakingly returned to its 1920 appearance. Hall told us the presidential library features exhibit galleries, event space, historic displays and a gift shop. A second phase of the library is still to be constructed. The library and home are open Wednesdays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with guided tours offered on the hour beginning at 10 a.m. On Sundays, the site is open 12-5 p.m., with tours beginning at 1 p.m. The memorial is a mile and a half away from the library and home and is available to visitors from dawn to dusk.
Also on Monday, we presented our quarterly scholarships to 15 non-traditional students who are attending schools in Allen County. To date, we have awarded 1,126 scholarships for a total of $852,750.
