William McKinley Memorial

The William McKinley Memorial stands at the foot of the Panhandle, the narrow strip of park that leads into Golden Gate Park, honoring the 25th U.S. President who was assassinated in September 1901. Sculptor Robert Ingersoll Aitken completed the bronze figure, which was dedicated in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt — McKinley's successor — and unveiled on November 24, 1904, drawing over 5,000 attendees. Today the monument sits quietly across Baker Street from the DMV, its neoclassical pedestal largely overlooked by passersby, making it a low-key footnote in San Francisco's Gilded Age civic history.