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Canton's 120-year-old William McKinley statue still standing after being hit by loose RV
CANTON − Stark County swiftly made repairs to the President William McKinley statue outside the Stark County Courthouse after it was stuck by a runaway recreational vehicle.
County Administrator Brant Luther witnessed the June 3 mishap from his office window in the Stark County Office Building across the street.
"I glanced to the left out my window ... what I see is an RV, what I believed to be backing at an angle, and it's not stopping," Luther said.
He found out later that the 30-foot RV was not backing up. It broke loose while in tow as the tow truck made a turn at the Tuscarawas Street W, Market Avenue N intersection.
The RV went over the curb and first crashed into the front of the courthouse stairs, demolishing the Lincoln Highway marker.
Its momentum from that initial crash sent it backwards into the McKinley statue.
The statue sustained about $7,300 of damage to its base. Coon Restoration & Sealants, the company that originally installed the statue's pedestal, promptly made repairs.
No one was injured in the accident.
The highway marker will have to be remade.
The county is moving ahead with making repairs and later plans to negotiate with the parties responsible to cover costs.
Before its move to Canton in 2023, the nearly 120-year-old bronze sculpture was located in Arcata, California.
The statue survived one of the deadliest earthquakes in U.S. history in 1906 in San Francisco. Later in Arcata, it was a target of vandals critical of the 25th president.
"That thing has survived (so much)," Luther said. "To be taken out by an RV would just be the ultimate 'Are you kidding me?'"
Reach Grace at 330-580-8364 or gspringer@ Follow her on X @GraceSpringer16.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: McKinley statue at Stark County courthouse damaged after RV crash
