Editor’s note: This is part of a weekly series marking the 120th anniversary of Niles native William McKinley’s U.S. presidency.

William McKinley was a popular American president who died tragically in office at the hands of an assassin in 1901. A mourning nation honored their fallen leader by suggesting that things of importance in the nation be named or renamed after him. His legacy was established at the time of his death and his name continues to be part of the American landscape today.

Alaskan Native Americans called the highest mountain peak in North America and the surrounding area Denali. An Alaskan gold prospector took it upon himself to rename the mountain Mount McKinley. The United States government formally named the area as Mount McKinley National Park in 1917.

The Alaskan Native Americans were unhappy that the mountain and the surrounding area was no longer called Denali. The United States government renamed the national park as Denali in 1980, but the mountain was still called McKinley. President Obama in 2015 by executive order renamed Mount McKinley as Mount Denali.

McKinley County in northwestern New Mexico is the only county in the United States to be named after President McKinley. The county was created after his death in what was then the Territory of New Mexico. The county is home to the largest Navajo Reservation in the United States.

There are no incorporated cities or villages named after President McKinley in the United States. However, townships in Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin were renamed in McKinley’s honor after his assassination. McKinleyville is an unincorporated area in Humboldt, California, and was originally named Minor before its name change in 1901. McKinleyville holds the distinction of being the only place in the United States named after McKinley that has its own ZIP codes. The ZIP codes for McKinleyville are 95519 and 95521.

There was a large grove of Sequoia trees in Fresno County, California, that had no name in 1901. The citizens of the area named the Sequoia trees the McKinley Grove in honor of the fallen president.

President McKinley has been on currency issued by the United States Treasury. His likeness has been found on both paper money and coins.

President McKinley’s portrait can be found on the ­$500 bill that the Treasury Department issued from 1924 to 1945. He was the last individual to be on the $500 bill because the Treasury Department halted its production in 1945 and it was discontinued formally in 1969.

The $500 never was circulated widely. It was mainly used by banks to be given to their depositors who withdrew large sums from their account.

The McKinley $500 bill is still legal tender in the United States. A bank must redeem the money and then destroy it. McKinley bills are mostly in the hands of private coin collectors and dealers. The value of the McKinley bill is 40 percent above its face value.

President McKinley’s likeness can be found on $1 commemorative coins produced by the United States Mint. His likeness, along with Thomas Jefferson, was found on a gold $1 coin to commemorate the Louisiana Purchase Exposition to be held in St. Louis in 1904. The coin was issued in 1903 and the coin backers intended to sell the coin for $3. The coin did not sell well and most of the coins were to returned to the mint and destroyed.

The National McKinley Birthplace Association was authorized to sell 100,000 gold commemorative coins as a fundraising tool to build the McKinley Memorial in Niles. The coin originally was supposed to be silver but since President McKinley stood for the gold standard, it was changed to gold.

The coin was issued in 1916 and 1917. The coins were poorly promoted and did not sell well — 30,000 coins were produced and only 20,000 were sold. A Texas coin dealer Mark Mehl bought the majority of the coins at discount. The remaining coins were returned to the mint and destroyed.

President McKinley’s likeness can be found on a $1 commemorative coin issued by the United States Mint as part of its presidents series in 1913. The coins do not circulate and are only sold to coin collectors and dealers.

This is just a sampling of President McKinley’s legacy in America. I hope to return to this topic in the future.

Patrick Finan of Cortland is the retired former library director of the McKinley Memorial Library in Niles.