The day Theodore Roosevelt lost his young wife and mother, he wrote in his diary that “the light has gone out of my life.” It was only through long trips to the remote Dakota Territory in the 1880s that he rediscovered “the romance” of living. Next summer, a library dedicated to the 26th president will open amid North Dakota’s rugged landscape—stunningly similar to what Roosevelt himself experienced: far from cities, surrounded by rolling hills beneath a vast sky, according to the AP. But its isolation raises a question: how many visitors will make the journey to such a distant museum?
The nearly 100,000-square-foot facility will rise from a grassy butte across the highway from Theodore Roosevelt National Park, near Medora, North Dakota, a town of roughly 160 residents. Scheduled to open on July 4, 2026—America’s 250th anniversary—all living presidents have been invited. Library Foundation CEO Ed O’Keefe said he envisions the library as a place where “kids drag their parents,” a venue for picnics, weddings, and even presidential debates. Visitors can walk along a path that leads to the sloping, grass-and-flower-covered roof. Inside, enormous rammed-earth walls in layered colors echo the dramatic Badlands. “We like to say that the library is the landscape,” O’Keefe explained.
Roosevelt first arrived in the Badlands in 1883 to hunt bison. He invested in a ranching operation and returned multiple times after the deaths of his wife and mother. Tales of his adventures there—from riding with cowboys to confronting a barroom bully and apprehending thieves—have endured. Roosevelt later reflected that he might never have become president without his time in North Dakota.
Despite its remote location, library supporters, with a $450 million fundraising goal, hope tourists visiting Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park will add the library to their itinerary. And while it may not see constant crowds, O’Keefe said, “that’s the magic of it. You get a little more of the Badlands to yourself.”