Why do we have parks, public auditoriums, and museums in the Mahoning Valley?  Because people who lived here, and made money here, wanted to give something back to their community.  Ephraim Quinby, founder of Warren, began the tradition when he donated 5 acres of land for Court House Park.  Packard Park in Warren was originally a tract of about 50 acres given to the city by W.D. Packard in 1911, with $4000 to improve it.  Although Packard Music Hall was not finished until 1955, W.D. Packard’s dream of free monthly band concerts continues to this day, courtesy of the Packard Trust.

The McKinley National Memorial in Niles was envisioned by Joseph G. Butler, Jr., and built where William McKinley first attended school.  The memorial, dedicated in 1917, includes an open court of honor with a heroic marble statue of President McKinley by the famous American sculptor J. Massey Rhind, and two wings: a public library to the south and an auditorium to the north.  Joseph Butler also created the Butler Institute of American Art, founded in 1919, for the display of American art and to encourage local artists.  

Henry H. Stambaugh donated over one million dollars from his estate for the construction of Stambaugh Auditorium, intended for the enjoyment, pleasure, entertainment, and education of the community.  America’s oldest on-going community theater began in Youngstown in 1927, and raised money from the community for their own building in the 1950s.  Finally, Olive F. A. Arms left her home to become the Arms Family Museum of Local History to continue to tell the story of the people who have lived in the Mahoning Valley.

How would you like people to remember you?  Would you rather have a park, a museum, or a theater named for you?  Why?  If you had a lot of money, how else could you spend it to help your community?  To learn more about growth in our Valley, visit the Arms Family Museum of Local History.  For a better look at these pictures, go to www.mahoninghistory.org.  Click on ‘Education,’ then on ‘What Do You Know’ for a list of articles.  Each article has small images you can enlarge or download as a file.