The historic town of Medora in North Dakota is to be home to a major new facility that will pay homage to Theodore Roosevelt, the country’s 26th president.
Due to open on July 4, 2026, on the 250th anniversary of America’s Independence, The Theo Roosevelt Presidential Library will explore his childhood, presidency, travels and philosophies and morals he held dear.
Roosevelt had a long history with North Dakota, first arriving in the state’s Badlands in 1883 to hunt bison.
“Built on a bluff overlooking the river this will not be a typical presidential library. It will be a journey through Roosevelt’s life but also the values that help shape America,” said Edward F. O’Keefe, the library’s Chief Executive Office.
“This is the perfect place to host this library; not because Teddy came here but because he was made here.”
The Roosevelt story starts in New York City, “when little Teddy was a sickly boy,” then moves him out west, to North Dakota, before back to Washington DC and onto his time as president and his life after he left the White House, which included expeditions in Africa and the Amazon in South America.
The story ends at Sagamore Hall, in Long Island, New York, his final home.
The Presidential Library’s main structure will feature a gently sloping roof that looks to the northeast and Theodore Roosevelt National Park – the only national park in the U.S. named after a person.
“The building will melt into the landscape, not rise above it and will be shaped by Roosevelt’s personal reflections on the landscape, his interest in environmental stewardship and periods of quiet introspection,” said O’Keefe.
“Our sustainability standards will be some of the most rigorous ever undertaken. There will be zero waste, zero emissions, zero energy, zero waste of water.”
The library will put a strong emphasis on the themes of conservation and sustainability that were important to Roosevelt.
“We are not just preserving his memory, we are extending his legacy,” said O’Keefe.
“The world needs the values Theodore Roosevelt stood for more than ever,” he added.
The library will be a “digitalised facility”, with guests wearing an AI “badge” as they journey through the library and Roosevelt’s life, taking part in various immersive experiences as they do so.
When open, the facility will offer visitors to the region a trifecta of top attractions, combining with Yellowstone National Park in the west and Mount Rushmore to the south.
Visitors to Medora will experience a rare and authentic town with a genuine western feel, said O’Keefe.
“It feels like you have just walked onto the set of Yellowstone, but with less violence.”
