641 Delaware Ave

The Wilcox Mansion at 641 Delaware Avenue occupies a unique place in American history as the site where Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated as the twenty-sixth President of the United States on September 14, 1901, following the assassination of President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. Roosevelt took the oath of office in the library of this elegant Greek Revival home owned by his friend Ansley Wilcox — the only presidential inauguration to take place in a private residence.

The house was originally built around 1838 and has been significantly remodeled over the decades. By the time of the 1901 inauguration, it had been updated in a refined Federal and Colonial Revival manner by Ansley Wilcox, a prominent Buffalo attorney. The library where Roosevelt was sworn in, with Wilcox's wife Louisa and key administration figures present, has been carefully preserved and restored to its 1901 appearance.

Ansley Wilcox acquired the property in 1883 and made it one of Delaware Avenue's most distinguished addresses. The house sits on spacious grounds set back from the avenue, reflecting the generous setbacks that characterized Delaware Avenue's residential character in its prime years.

After the Wilcox family sold the property, it went through various uses and fell into disrepair. A preservation campaign in the 1960s saved the building from demolition, and it was established as the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in 1971. Today it operates as a museum dedicated to the events of September 1901 and to the life and presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. The site's collections include period furnishings, photographs, and documents related to McKinley's assassination and Roosevelt's swearing-in.