Be advised that the NPS has issued alerts for this park.
I-80 Construction Affects Park Access
Beginning May 20, I-80 construction will affect travel to the park. Westbound I-80 Exit 254 to West Branch will be closed tentatively through July. Visitors traveling westbound to the park will need to use Exit 249 to the west or Exit 259 to the east.
Herbert Hoover NHS is Open. The Presidential Library and Museum is Closed for Renovations
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is closed to museum visitors with plans to reopen in 2026. The Research Room will remain open by appointment, and educational programming will continue during the renovation.
Orphaned at age nine, Herbert Hoover left West Branch never to live here again. In later years, he returned to his humble birthplace to celebrate his long career of public service. A memorial landscape remains to tell his story: how community, ha...
Herbert Hoover's Uncle Allen owned a farm one mile north and a half-mile east of West Branch. After losing first his father, and three years later, his mother, Herbert Hoover went to live on his uncle's farm at the age of nine.
Amanda Garvin was a single 35-year old woman when she bought this property in 1870 for $90.00. She had this cottage built by 1872. The Garvin house is a wonderful example of the Gothic Revival style with its steeply pitched roof, gingerbread bargeboard trim, and ornamental arches framing the open front porch.
Amanda Garvin House 291 words Amanda Garvin House. 1 ¾ minute. The Garvin House faces east on Downey Street. It’s a narrow two-story home, 15 feet wide, with a small one-story extension on the right-hand side. The Garvin Cottage is not open to the public. The building is painted eggshell white with reddish-brown trim around the windows and doors. A single brick chimney juts up from the center of the steeply pitched roof. An open porch stretches across the front of the main structure, with four thin, square columns holding up the porch’s moss-covered roof. Between the columns, the porch is adorned with three delicate wooden arches painted to match the eggshell hue of the house. Ornately carved brackets, also painted to match, trim the top of the brown-painted columns. In the yard on the left is an antique metal water pump with a long, curved handle. Two tall trees stand at the front corners of the building’s grassy lot. A white picket fence 3 ½ feet tall surrounds the property, separating it from the wooden boardwalk that runs along the west side of Downey Street. A sign 12 inches wide by five inches tall hangs on the gatepost. Beneath the title "Garvin House “, a black and white photograph shows a two-story frame house with decorative trim along the eaves and a covered porch. A caption notes: "Garvin House circa 1930." Beneath the photograph, text reads: "Amanda Garvin was single and 35 when she bought this lot for $90 in 1870 and had the cottage built. She was renting the house by 1878 but lost it to foreclosure in 1885. With its gingerbread trim and ornamental arches, the cottage is a wonderful example of carpenter gothic architecture." End of message.
In the years following his presidency, Herbert and Lou Hoover restored the president's humble birthplace, which he called, "physical proof of the unbounded opportunity of American life." The small space and few material possessions reflect an ethic of thrift. The cottage was a typical starter home for a young late 19th century family. Antique furnishings represent common household items of a simply furnished two room rural home.
Birthplace Cottage 290 words Birthplace Cottage, 1 ¾ minute. First of two descriptions at this location. Herbert Hoover’s birthplace is a one-story wooden house with a grey shingled roof that angles up sharply from the façade. A single brick chimney emerges from the peak. The exterior is painted white, and a central doorway is flanked by two 12 paned rectangular windows. The house faces east and is about 20 feet wide across the front. A white picket fence surrounds the house and yard on the north and east sides. A sign 11 inches wide and 3.5 inches tall hangs on the white picket fence left of the entrance gate. When the cottage is open to the public, the sign reads "open.” Another sign five inches wide by 12 inches tall, titled “Birthplace Cottage,” hangs on the right gatepost. The sign is described following this message. From other messages you can hear descriptions of the birthplace’s interior, back porch, and yard. A wooden walkway leads from the main boardwalk to the front door through a gate in the east side of the fence. The walkway is approximately 20 feet long. Watch your step, as the walkway drops off a couple inches on either side to the grass lawn. A flower bed to the left of the walkway adds color to the lawn in the spring and summer. As you reach the cottage, there are two steps up to a tiny porch just 4 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The porch is covered by a red wooden awning, and leafy vines climb white wooden latticework on either side. Once on the porch, you’ll have to step up another inch or two at the threshold to enter the house. End of message. Birthplace Cottage – Sign 147 words Sign: "Birthplace Cottage." 50 seconds. Second of two descriptions at this location. The sign identifies the birthplace of Herbert Hoover. A sign 12 inches wide by five inches tall hangs on the right gatepost. Beneath the title “Birthplace Cottage,” an image shows Herbert Hoover as a baby, wearing an infant's gown with long sleeves and decorative trim on the cuffs and hem. A caption reads: "Herbert Hoover circa 1875." A quote from Herbert Hoover appears below the image of the baby: "This cottage where I was born is physical proof of the unbounded opportunity of American life. In no other land could a boy from a country village, without inheritance or influential friends, look forward with unbounded hope." A note at the bottom of the sign states: "President and Mrs. Hoover purchased and restored the cottage in the 1930s." End of message.
The partially enclosed and covered porch at the rear of the cottage may have served several purposes over time, including a woodshed, storeroom, summer kitchen, and spare bedroom.
Birthplace Cottage - Back Porch and Backyard<br />280 words<br /><br />Birthplace Cottage - Back porch and backyard. Two minutes. The back porch of the Birthplace Cottage is twelve feet wide and six feet deep. It's empty except for a rack of firewood to your left as you exit the back door. Hinges also stick up from a hatch door in the porch floor, so watch your step. To your right as you exit is the summer kitchen-a small room stocked with pots, pans, and other cooking implements. In the summer, a Plexiglas partition blocks the lower half of the doorway to the summer kitchen; in the winter, a Plexiglas partition covers the entire doorway.<br /><br />The porch sits about a foot-and-a-half off the ground, but a wooden ramp begins directly opposite the back door and leads down to the right, eventually connecting with the main boardwalk near the blacksmith shop. <br /><br />The backyard also has several items of interest. If you face straight ahead as you exit the cottage, a wooden privy will be about 50 feet away and a little to the right, at roughly one o'clock on the clock face. It's painted white, and a crescent moon is carved into its narrow door. At nine o'clock, directly to your left, about 20 feet away are two wooden posts with two clotheslines strung between them. At ten o'clock on the clock face, ten feet to your left, a black water pump stands on a low wooden platform. Just beyond it is a vegetable garden on a rectangular plot of land about 10 feet by 20 feet. At approximately eleven o'clock, several hundred feet in the distance, an American flag flies at the gravesite of President and Mrs. Hoover.<br /><br />End of message.
Decorative patchwork quilts, along with wool bedspreads woven on family looms, kept everyone warm when the woodstove’s fire died out in the middle of the night.
Birthplace Cottage – Bedroom 131 words Birthplace Cottage – Bedroom. ¾ minute. The bedroom is on the left as you enter through the front door. A barrier blocks the lower half of the doorway to the bedroom. Inside the bedroom is a wood-framed bed with a wheeled trundle partially withdrawn from its underside. Two black-and-white portraits in oval frames hang on the wall above the bed. At the bed’s foot is porcelain chamber pot. In the center of the room next to the bed is a wooden baby’s cradle. A wooden nightstand against the far wall holds a porcelain water pitcher, wash basin, and soap dish. A bureau and sewing machine are against the wall on the left. The three exterior walls of the bedroom each have a white-curtained window. End of message.
With no electricity or indoor plumbing, rooms in the compact cottage needed to be multi-purpose. The main room served as a combined living room, dining room, and kitchen, while the bedroom had sufficient furnishings for the parents and their three small children. Furniture like a trundle bed in the bedroom and a drop-leaf table in the main room helped save space.
Birthplace Cottage Main Room 239 words Birthplace Cottage Main Room. 1 ½ minute. First of two descriptions at this location. When you enter the birthplace, you will be in its main room. Inside the Birthplace Cottage, you’ll find wooden walls painted white, and an 8-foot wooden-beamed ceiling, also painted white. A rag rug covers the floor, thinly striped in faded tones of many colors. Low barriers separate you from the furnishings but allow passage through the house. An exhibit panel mounted on the barrier, described in the following message, tells about the furnishings. The main room is furnished with a settee, dry sink, cupboard, pie safe, a few simple wooden chairs including a highchair, and a drop-leaf table. A kerosene lamp, sundry kitchen items, clock, and books are among the meager possessions on display. Some children’s blocks and a small wood pull-horse on wheels are the only toys. The bedroom is on the left as you enter through the front door. A barrier blocks the lower half of the doorway to the bedroom. The bedroom and its furnishings are described in a separate message. There are five windows located around the room, and a door directly opposite the front door that leads to the back porch. Inside the front and back doors are signs that read “Exit - Please Close the Door.” Mind the short step down from the threshold when exiting through the back door. End of message. Tight and Cozy 215 words Panel: “Tight and Cozy.” 1 ½ minutes. Second of two descriptions at this location. The panel describes the historic furnishings of Herbert Hoover’s birthplace. In the main living space, a panel that is 24 inches wide and 6 inches tall angles atop the plexiglass barrier. The panel's title, “Tight and Cozy,” appears at the top left, above text that reads: “With two adults and three children, the Hoovers did not have much room for furnishings. And they had even less room in the winter when they brought the woodstove inside from the summer kitchen on the back porch. The porch also may have served as a woodshed, storeroom, and spare bedroom.” To the right of the text, a color photograph from 1987 offers a wintertime view of the main living space with a woodstove. A cast iron kettle and pot sit on the stove in front of the stovepipe, and a tea service rests atop a dropleaf table. Against a wall, a pot with a lid and a coffee grinder sit on a wooden dresser. A clock with a pendulum occupies a space on a shelf painted a lavender color, matching the door. A caption explains: “The furnishings reflect Lou Hoover's interpretation of her husband's birthplace.” End of message.
The Hoover Birthplace Society dedicated "Herbert Hoover Birthplace Park" at its new entrance gate in 1952. At the time the park consisted chiefly of the Birthplace Cottage and the Statue of Isis.
Jesse Hoover owned and operated a blacksmith shop from 1871 to 1878. Although there were other smithies in town, Jesse earned a reputation as a good-natured, fair, and industrious businessman. Skilled and ambitious, he advertised to farmers, “Horse shoeing and plow work a specialty. Also dealer in all kinds of pumps. Prices to suit the times.”
Blacksmith Shop. 226 words. Blacksmith Shop. 1 ¼ minutes. First of two descriptions at this location. The blacksmith shop is a one-story wooden structure painted dark reddish-brown with white trim. The building faces south, its large double-doors opening onto the main boardwalk, which widens to about 10 feet at this location. The building comprises two sections. The main structure, on the left, is about 20 feet wide. Its front has no windows—just two extra-wide double doors below a flat roofline. The words “Jesse Hoover, Blacksmith” are printed on a white sign with black lettering, which hangs above an oversized horseshoe on the upper center of the façade. You can enter the main part of the building through either of its wide doorways, though a wooden fence blocks entry into the workspace. To the right, adjacent to the main building, is a smaller structure with a slanted roof that gently angles up to the left. The right-hand structure has a single double doorway, but entry is blocked by a wooden fence about 3 feet high. An exhibit panel titled "Forging Character" is mounted on the exterior wall between the two wide doorways, though it may only be visible when the blacksmith shop is closed. It is described in the following message. The interior of the blacksmith shop is described in a separate message. End of message. Forging Character. 235 words - Panel: "Forging Character." 1 ½ minute. Second of two descriptions at this location. The panel describes the historic significance of the blacksmith shop. The upright panel titled "Forging Character" is 24 inches tall and 18 inches wide. It is mounted on the exterior wall between two wide doorways. Beneath the title, introductory text reads: "As a boy Herbert Hoover liked to watch his father, Jesse, shoe horses and repair plows, but he was not always careful. 'Playing barefoot around the blacksmith shop,' he recalled, 'I stepped on a chip of hot iron and carry the brand of Iowa on my foot to this day.' Come back during open hours to see the shop's interior and occasional blacksmithing demonstration." A note beneath the introductory text states: "In 1957 the Hoover Birthplace Society built this re-creation of Jesse's shop. The original had been in the lot to your right." The introductory text appears over the main photograph of a blacksmith shop. Using long-handled tongs, an artisan holds a piece of metal over flames in a stone fireplace. The man's image is slightly blurred, suggesting movement. A caption reads: "Blacksmithing demonstration." An inset photograph features Jesse Hoover, a dark-haired man with a long thick beard. The caption reads: "Jesse Hoover, a well-liked and fair businessman, sold his blacksmith shop and opened a farm machinery business on Main Street in 1878." End of message.
The Blacksmith Shop at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site is a working smithy in the style of traditional blacksmithing. The techniques, tools, and fuel sources are what blacksmiths used in the 1800s.
Blacksmith Shop Interior 246 words Blacksmith Shop Interior. 1 ½ minutes. First of two descriptions at this location. Inside the blacksmith shop, about six feet beyond the wide double doors, a wooden post-and-rail fence runs across the width of the main space. An exhibit panel mounted on the rail fence illustrates how a blacksmith works with metal. The panel is described in the following message. Beyond the fence, the room is cluttered with metal pieces and partly finished products, as well as blacksmith tools—including hammers, tongs, and anvils. Horseshoes hang from ceiling beams and metal rods line racks along the walls. Wagon wheels rest against the wall and fence. The rustic, dark wood walls feature exposed beams, and three rectangular windows on the back and left side provide the only light. The floor is packed dirt and cement. The ceiling slopes up gently from the sides to a central peak. Halfway back on the right-hand side of the room is the blacksmith’s forge. It’s a square brick platform about three feet high and five feet on each side. A brick chimney, blackened with soot, rises from the platform to the ceiling. On the right-hand wall, a narrow doorway leads into another, smaller space. This second room contains wood-working tools and metal pieces of various shapes and sizes. The doorway is located just beyond the fence, so visitors are not able to enter the other room and can only peek in. End of message. Hammering Out a Dinner Gong. 232 words. Panel with Tactile Exhibit: “Hammering Out a Dinner Gong.” 1 ¼ minute. Second of two descriptions at this location. The panel illustrates the process of working metal inside the blacksmith shop. Inside the blacksmith shop, a panel titled “Hammering Out a Dinner Gong” angles atop the waist-high wooden railing that fences off a display of equipment. The angled panel is 24 inches wide and 14 inches deep. Beneath the title, introductory text reads: “In the 1870s Jesse Hoover and other blacksmiths shoed horses and made and repaired farming equipment. They also created decorative and functional household items.” The panel goes on to explain the 4 steps a smithy follows to make a dinner gong or triangle. Pieces of metal attached to the panel illustrate each text. You are welcome to touch them. Step one displays a thin metal rod. Text reads: “Cuts the ends of a piece of round steel with shears.” Step two displays a rod with one pointed end. Text reads: “Draws out points at each end.” Step three displays a rod with bent, curled ends. Text reads: “Bends ends and creates scrolls.” Step four displays a rod bent into a triangle with a curl on each end, plus a ringer, a straight metal rod with a circle on one end. Text reads: “Finishes triangle shape and forges a ringer.” End of message.
In 1871 young Jesse Hoover constructed a blacksmith and wagon repair shop here on the corner of Penn and Downey streets. His business thrived in the rapidly growing village. In 1878 Jesse sold both his shop and the small cottage he had built across Penn Street, and opened a farm implement business a few blocks away on Main Street. In 1888 the original building was moved to another part of town, and was subsequently lost to history.
Blacksmith Shop Original Site 109 words Blacksmith Shop Original Site. About 45 seconds. The blacksmith shop’s original location is adjacent to the blacksmith shop, just to its east. Today, it’s simply a flat grassy lot with some large trees spread across it. The rectangular plot of land is bounded on the south by the boardwalk that runs along Penn Street and on the east by the boardwalk that runs along Downey Street. The white picket fence of the green-and-white C. E. Smith house abuts the site on the north. The original site is roughly 75 feet from east to west and 30 feet north to south. End of message.
Built and operated by Jesse Hoover, the Blacksmith Shop was sold by Jesse to G.M.D. Hill in 1878. It was moved from its original location in 1888 and converted into a veterinary barn. Whether it was later moved again or demolished, the shop originally owned by Jesse Hoover had faded into obscurity by 1895.
Charles E. Smith was a carpenter and a Civil War veteran. In 1903, he completed his dream home for himself and his wife, Deborah, atop Cooks Hill where each spring, he would tap his maple trees to make maple syrup. The National Park Service relocated it near Herbert Hoover's birthplace in 1969.
C.E. Smith House 327 words C.E. Smith House. 2 minutes. The C.E. Smith House is an irregularly shaped Victorian-style home 20 feet wide and 25 feet deep. The house is used for Park Service offices and is not open to the public. The two-story home sits on a red brick foundation three feet high. The rest of the house is wood, painted white with pale green accents. An octagonal porch graces the front left corner of the building. Thin white columns support the conical roof of the porch. Scrolling green brackets adorn the underside of the porch roof as well as the eaves of the building. The front gable features patterned shingles and a small window. A square gazebo 10 feet by 10 feet stands in the yard to the left of the house. Its color scheme and architectural style match the porch. On the gazebo’s raised wooden platform is a cider press. Its metal wheels, gears, and chains are held together by a wooden frame. A white picket fence encloses the property. A sign 12 inches wide by five inches tall hangs on the gatepost. Beneath the title “CE Smith House “, a black and white photograph shows an elderly couple standing outside their home. The man wears a three-piece suit. The woman has a high-collared, long-sleeved dress that reaches down to the ground. A caption reads: "The Smiths on their 50th anniversary, 1917." Beneath the photograph, text reads: "Charles E. Smith, a Civil War veteran and carpenter, moved in the 1880s to West Branch with his wife, Deborah. In 1903 he finished this dream house on the top of Cook's Hill, down the road to your left, where each spring he tapped his maple trees to make syrup." A note at the bottom of the sign states: "A Methodist Church formerly stood on this site. The NPS moved the house here in 1969 to add a historic building to the commemorative landscape." End of message.
The C.E. Smith House was built in 1903 on Cook's Hill, south of where it stands today. It was moved onto its current site in 1969 to be incorporated into the historic Downey Trace scene.
In 1909 Citizens' Savings Bank relocated here on the northeast corner of North Downey and Main streets. Surviving the collapse of farm prices in 1921 but not the Great Depression, it was absorbed in 1934 by the West Branch State Bank, creating the First State Bank.
Citizen’s Savings Bank Building 195 words Citizen’s Savings Bank Building. 1 ¼ minutes. The Citizen’s Savings Bank Building is located at 101 North Downey Street, at the northwest corner of North Downey and Main Streets. The two-story building faces onto Downey Street and is about 20 feet wide. The first-floor façade is made of polished limestone, with grand pilasters on either side of a tall central doorway. The words “Citizen’s Savings Bank” are carved into a frieze above the door. The doorway and two large first-floor windows are trimmed in deep forest green. A plaque near the corner, about 4 feet above the ground, reads: “This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.” The second-story façade and both floors of the Main Street frontage present a more humble appearance. They are constructed from plain blonde brick with a simple repeating pattern of decorative brickwork below the roofline. The sidewalk here is just one small step up from the street, and a curb-cut is available at the corner. Please watch your step, as the sidewalk contains some cracks and uneven joints. End of message.
West Branch's first schoolhouse occupied a one-acre lot here from 1853 until 1870. Nate Crook owned and operated a barber shop and restaurant in this building in 1871. By 1877 he had expanded his operation to include a hotel and livery. Over the years the building has housed several hotels and restaurants.
Crook’s Hotel Building 196 words The former Crook’s Hotel is located at 102 West Main Street in downtown West Branch. On the right, the building abuts the former West Branch Bank Building; on the left is the pedestrian extension of Downey Street, which leads into the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. The mostly wooden structure stands on a cement base 2 to 3 feet high. The rest of the building is painted a cream color and accented with light grey. In the center of the 25-foot wide façade, a double set of stairs lead to a pair of entrances. There are six steps up on either side of a central railing. Large storefront windows are located to the left and right of the stairs, above the concrete base. The second story is of clapboard construction with three rectangular windows. A small double third-floor window is set into the gable of the wide pitched roof. A central chimney sticks up from the peak. It’s just one step up from the street to the sidewalk here, and there is a curb cut at the corner of Downey Street, just to the left of the building. End of message.
In 1869, carpenter David Mackey, who designed and built this humble two-story home. The cheerful yellow house would have been a familiar landmark to the young Herbert Hoover. The young widower, one of the town's few Democrats, was elected the Mayor of West Branch in 1879.
David Mackey House 111 words Mackey House. ¾ minute. The Mackey House stands on the east side of Poplar Street, just south of the park entrance at Wetherell Street. The house is about eight feet from the boardwalk, but it’s separated by a white picket fence 3 ½ feet high. The Mackey House is not open to the public. The narrow plain yellow house is two stories tall and 12 feet across. Dark grey trim outlines the four front-facing windows and door. A brown shingled awning overhangs the doorway and brown shingles cover the building’s pitched roof. A single brick chimney perches atop the plain wooden house. End of message.
The National Park Service will use your donation to support preservation, programs, and events.
Donation Box<br />76 words<br /><br />Donation box. 30 seconds. <br /><br />In the grass near the blacksmith shop is a donation box. The six by eight inch sign on the box, titled "Donations," shows a photograph of a park ranger in an orange hard hat repairing woodwork on the porch.<br /><br />Text at the bottom reads, "The National Park Service will use your donation to support: <br /><br />Preservation of buildings, artifacts<br />Interpretive programs, events<br />Services for visitors"<br /><br />End of message.
West Branch boomed between 1869 and 1873. New buildings constructed in the neighborhood near the Hoovers' small cottage on Downey Street included the Laban Miles House, the Garvin House, and the Methodist Church, which is no longer standing. When the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad arrived in West Branch on December 20, 1870, two hundred of the town's residents celebrated with a picnic dinner.
Downey Street 513 words Panel: "From Downey Street to Pennsylvania Avenue." 3 minutes. First of two descriptions at this location. This panel depicts the south Downey Street neighborhood as it was during Herbert Hoover's boyhood. The panel titled "From Downey Street to Pennsylvania Avenue" is located near the intersection of Downey and Penn Streets along the boardwalk. Looking toward Hoover's birthplace cottage, the angled panel is 42 inches wide and 24 inches deep. Below the title displayed in the illustration’s blue sky, introductory text reads: "Herbert Clark Hoover was born on August 10, 1874, in a two-room cottage. He spent his early boyhood years on the edge of the village surrounded by farmlands. His parents, relatives, and many neighbors were Quakers whose daily lives were centered on their faith's beliefs. Herbert's mother Hulda tended to him and his siblings, Theodore and Mary. She also served as a recorded minister in the Quaker meeting. Jesse, a devoted father, worked hard as a blacksmith and businessman. Together they played major roles in forming the character of the boy who would become the 31st president of the United States." To the right of the introductory text, a quote from Herbert Hoover reads: "My grandparents and parents came here in a covered wagon… The most formative years of my boyhood were spent here. My roots are in this soil." Below Hoover's quote, more text reads: "The park is a commemorative landscape conceived by the Hoover family, the Hoover Birthplace Society, and the National Park Service." The illustration stretches across the width of the panel, providing a look at Hoover's boyhood neighborhood. A caption poses the question, "How has the street changed?" On the illustration, the view starts at a bridge on the left. Moving to the right, a white picket fence surrounds Hoover's modest birthplace cottage. A woman stands in the doorway. A caption notes that the cottage was "built in 1871 by his father Jesse and grandfather Eli." A line connects the view of the old cottage with a modern photograph in the sky overhead. A caption reads: "Tour the interior of Hoover's birthplace across the street." Doors stand open at Jesse Hoover's Blacksmith Shop and we can see someone working inside. A caption notes: "Original 1871 shop faced Downey Street." Next to the Blacksmith Shop, a steeple stands tall at a Methodist Church. A caption reads: "Built 1870, razed 1913, historic house moved here." The Garvin House occupies the property next door. A few children play outside. Farther on, the Crook's Hotel, a two-story building, is the last building shown on the illustration. Captions tell us that the Garvin House was built in 1872, and the hotel was built in 1870. The illustration shows a man riding a horse along Downey Street, and two men ride on a horse-drawn cart full of sacks. Walking toward the cart, another man carries a sack over his shoulder. On the street today, the blacksmith shop is now farther from Downey Street than the birthplace cottage and faces Penn Street, and the church no longer stands. End of message Historic Homes on Downey Street 201 words Historic Homes on Downey Street. One and a half minutes. Second of two descriptions at this location. Downey Street is a beige gravel road about 12 feet wide, running north-south through the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. The road is only for pedestrians. There’s a wooden boardwalk on either side of Downey Street, separated from the roadway by a strip of grass. A few trees and benches punctuate the grass borders. The boardwalks can be slick in wet weather, so watch your step. There are five historic homes on Downey Street between the South Downey Bridge in the south and Wetherell Street to the north. On the east side of the street, from south to north, they are the Varney House, the Leech House, and the Laban Miles House. On the west side of the street, from south to north, you’ll find the C.E. Smith House and Garvin Cottage. These homes are not open to the public. Each is described separately in its own stop. A few of the homes have stepping stones and hitching posts in front. One of the hitching posts is decorated with a small metal horse’s head. End of message.
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site commemorates the life of the 31st President. An exhibit panel orients visitors to the layout of the historic site and its features. On the opposite side of the exhibit, a panel describes historic downtown West Branch as they exit the park.
Downey Street Information Kiosk 572 words Panel: "A President’s Rural Roots." 3 ½ minutes. The panel introduces the park, offers an orientation map, and displays photographs of its main features. On the edge of the sidewalk along Downey Street, at the entrance to the park near the Visitor Center, an upright panel titled "A President's Rural Roots" stands 48 inches tall and 36 inches wide. Another panel appears on the opposite side and is described in a separate message. The title appears at the top of the panel. The main photograph at the top shows a cottage with white wood-frame walls and a brown-shingled gable roof with a brick chimney, surrounded by a white picket fence. Introductory text identifies the cottage as the birthplace of Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States: "Born in a modest two-room cottage, Herbert Hoover spent most of his first 11 years in West Branch. He went on to become the president of the United States - the first one born west of the Mississippi River. Here Hoover's parents and neighbors instilled in him the Quaker principles of honesty and hard work that formed his strong beliefs in self-reliance and American individualism. This commemorative landscape preserves historic features underlying Hoover's achievements as a mining engineer, humanitarian, and statesman." A quote from Eugene Lyons' 1964 book "Herbert Hoover, A Biography" appears below the introduction: "Few American Presidents had such humble beginnings and were so authentically 'self-made' as Herbert Hoover." Below the photograph of the cottage, a map shows landmarks in the park. An arrow points to this panel's location near the Visitor Center parking lot with the words: "You Are Here." The map shows walkways leading to the nearby Visitor Center, Blacksmith Shop, and Schoolhouse. Farther along are the Friends Meetinghouse, Statue of Isis, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, the gravesite of President and Mrs. Hoover, House of the Maples, Tallgrass Prairie Observation Deck, Hoover Presidential Foundation, two picnic shelters, and restrooms. Text to the left of the map offers information about touring the park: "Get oriented at the Visitor Center. See exhibits and a film about Hoover and find information about self-guided tours. Be sure to visit the Birthplace Cottage, Presidential Library and Museum, and the graves of President Hoover and his wife Lou Henry Hoover. Also in this memorial park are a blacksmith shop, Quaker meetinghouse, and schoolhouse." Beneath the interpretive text are safety tips: Boardwalks may be slippery when wet or icy. Use designated crosswalks. Do not climb trees and fences. Avoid creek banks, which are steep and unstable. A section called "Protect the Park" reads: Pets must be leashed at all times. Metal detectors are prohibited. Do not remove natural or historic objects. Do not climb on statues or gravestones. Park in designated spots only; no overnight parking or camping. No smoking in or near buildings. Three inset photographs appear along the bottom of the panel. In the left photo, two plain, rectangular, marble gravestones mark the gravesite of President and Mrs. Hoover. In the middle photo, US and Iowa flags fly from poles in front of the Presidential Library and Museum, a sprawling one-story building of rough-faced yellowish stone and a white portico. In the right photo, the Visitor Center features a one-story structure with a split roof that angles over the entryway. The National Park Service emblem is displayed on the Visitor Center's red brick south wall. End of message.
In 1870, real-estate developer J.M. Wetherell sold three lots to E.S. Hayhurst. Hayhurst built his house here in 1872. Unfortunately, Hayhurst and his family were only able to call this place home for less than a decade.
E.S. Hayhurst House 129 words Hayhurst House. One minute. The Hayhurst House is a two-story structure on the west side of Poplar Street, just north of Penn Street. Set back about 25 feet from the roadway, the clapboard house is bordered on its left side by several trees. The building is painted beige with chocolate-brown trim, and the pitched roof is covered with dark brown shingles. A small chimney sticks up from the center of the roof. On the left-hand side of the building’s façade, four broad steps lead up to an open porch. Three slender brown columns support the roof of the porch. On the right half of the façade, three rectangular windows are set into a simple gabled exterior wall. The Hayhurst House is not open to the public. End of message.
Commercial growth prompted the establishment of a second downtown bank in 1898, the Citizens' Savings Bank. The principal shareholders used local material dealers and contractors for construction. The front featured a dazzling 8 by 11 foot plate glass window. Since 1909 this building has been occupied by small businesses.
Earliest Citizen’s Savings Bank Building 254 words Earliest Citizen’s Savings Bank Building. 1 ¾ minutes. This building was home to the Citizen’s Savings Bank before the bank moved into grander quarters at the corner of Main Street and Downey Street in 1909. The structure here on the south side of West Main Street between the Union Block and the Grinnell Building is about 20 feet wide and two stories tall. No longer a bank, it currently houses Main Street Antiques and Art. The first floor of the mainly brick building features a large storefront window on the right and a pair of doors on the left. The doors are set back a couple of feet, and there is a slight ramp up from the sidewalk. The first-floor windows and doors are framed in wood, which is painted custard-yellow with red, green, beige, and brown accents. On the second floor, four round-topped windows are set into a two-toned brick façade. Below the horizontal roofline, a decorative wooden cornice is embellished in the same multi-hued palate as the first floor. There’s a metal plaque on the far right edge of the first-floor façade, about four feet off the ground. It is inscribed with the following words: This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior. The sidewalk is one step up from the street here and a ramp is available to the right of the building at the corner of Poplar Street. End of message.
Herbert Hoover's grandfather Eli Hoover came to Iowa in 1854 and bought a farm one mile from West Branch, which at that time was no more than a small settlement. He was said to have been mechanically inclined, with a talent for invention- traits that he passed along to his son Jesse- Herbert Hoover's father.<br /><br />The Eli Hoover home no longer stands on this private property.
In 1904 Huldah Enlow donated the land and building for a public library. Later, an anonymous monetary gift financed construction of an expansion. In 1963, the front entrance was enclosed and in 1974, the basement was converted into a children's library. It remained a library until 1993.
Herbert Hoover grew up in a religious community that valued peace, simplicity, integrity, and service to others. The plainly furnished Friends Meetinghouse, built by the Society of Friends, or Quakers, in 1857, is the physical expression of those values. Now two blocks from its original location, the Herbert Hoover Birthplace Foundation relocated and restored this meetinghouse in 1964.
Friends Meetinghouse 192 words Friends Meetinghouse. 1 ¼ minute. First of two descriptions at this location. The Friends Meetinghouse sits on the east side of Downey Street. The one-story structure is made of wood and painted eggshell white. A pitched roof of grey shingles slopes up from atop the west-facing façade. Two stout brick chimneys emerge from the peak—one on each side of the building. Four tall rectangular windows and two narrow double doors face out onto Downey Street. The meetinghouse is 40 feet wide, with an open-air porch on the left side. A level wooden walkway about 40 feet long extends from the boardwalk on Downey Street to the front of the building. At the intersection of Downey Street and this boardwalk an exhibit panel titled “Raised with Quaker Values” stands next to the board walk in the grass. The panel is described in the next message. Once you reach the building, you can turn left or right and enter through either doorway. Watch your step as you enter; there’s a small step at the threshold. The interior furnishings of the meetinghouse is described at another stop. End of message. Raised with Quaker Values 345 words Panel: “Raised with Quaker Values.” 2 minutes. Second of two descriptions at this location. This panel features an illustration of a Quaker meetinghouse, rendered with a cutaway view of the interior. At the intersection of Downey Street with the boardwalk leading to Friends Meetinghouse, the panel titled “Raised with Quaker Values” stands in the grass. The angled panel is 36 inches wide and 24 inches deep. Text below the title reads: “In this meetinghouse, the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, practiced principles of simplicity, honesty, equality, peace, and service to others. These values shaped young Hoover's character and were evident in his humanitarian endeavors and interest in public service. The Quakers worshiped in silence until the 'spirit' moved someone to speak. To encourage individual worship and female participation, men sat on one side of the partition and women and children on the other. Herbert's mother, Hulda, was an inspired speaker who sat with the elders in the front on raised benches. The congregation sat opposite. She conducted revivals, young people's prayer meetings, and temperance campaigns.” A quote from Herbert Hoover reads: “...the primitive furnishing of the Quaker meetinghouse, the solemnity of the long hours of meeting awaiting the spirit to move someone ... was strong training in patience.” In the illustration, a peaked gray roof stands atop the white, one-story meetinghouse. Through the cutaway section of the roof, we can see the layout of the unadorned rooms inside. The men's side is on the right, the women's side is on the left. In each partitioned room, members of the congregation sit in plain wooden pews, facing the elders and ministers. A door on the left leads from the women's side to a porch and a cry room, furnished with a few rocking chairs and cribs. In the illustration, several mothers hold their infants. A caption states: “The simple architecture and plain furnishings reflect Quaker values.” Another caption notes: “The meetinghouse, built in 1857 two blocks to your left, was moved here in 1964 and restored.” End of message.
Mothers brought restless or hungry infants to the cry room, or nursery, to avoid disturbing the silent Quaker meetings. This cry room is not original to the meetinghouse. It came from another meetinghouse, added as part of the restoration.
Friends Meetinghouse Cry Room 89 words Friends Meetinghouse Cry Room. 30 seconds. First of two descriptions at this location. On the east side of the roofed porch, right of the exit from the main part of the meetinghouse, you’ll reach a doorway that opens onto another small room. Plexiglas on the bottom half of the doorway prevents visitors from entering, but you can look in. Inside the room are several wooden cribs and cradles and two simple wooden chairs. This is known as the “cry room.” End of message. Cry Room 181 words Sign: "Cry Room." 1 minute. Second of two descriptions at this location. The sign illustrates the interior of the cry room. Outside the Friends Meetinghouse, an angled sign stands in a corner of the porch, next to the door opening into the Quakers' Cry Room. The gated doorway allows visitors to peer into the plainly furnished room. The tall narrow sign is 6 inches wide and 12 inches deep. The sign's title "Cry Room" appears at the top of the sign. Beneath the title, an illustration with a cutaway view through the roof shows the space inside the room. Three cribs are arranged along the walls. One woman walks with an infant. Another sits in a straight-backed chair, holding a baby, a young girl at her knee. A rocking chair occupies a place next to a table. Beneath the illustration, text reads: "When infants and young children disturbed the silence of the meeting, their mothers took them to this small nursery, called the cry room. The doorway in the back leads to a latrine." End of message.
Males and females sat on each side of an open partition, to encourage individual worship and full participation for women. With the emphasis on individual worship, the meetinghouse had no pulpit or altar, no crucifixes or stained glass, nor an organ or a choir.
Friends Meetinghouse Interior 187 words Friends Meetinghouse Interior. 1 ¼ minutes. A wooden partition runs down the center of the meetinghouse, dividing the space into two equal halves. Large un-paned windows are cut into the partition. The windows can be closed off with sliding panels, but they’re usually left open. The walls are plain white, with milk-chocolate-brown wainscoting at the front of the room. The same brown color trims the doors, window frames, and central partition. The wood floors are painted grey. On each side of the partition, six rows of unadorned wooden pews face forward. Two more rows of pews are situated on risers at the front of the room, facing the other benches. A wide aisle runs down the center of each side. Please be careful, as there is a small step up from the aisle to the pews. Two square black heating stoves sit on the far left and right of the room, about halfway toward the front. Ten narrow rectangular windows illuminate the space with sunlight. A doorway on the left-hand side of the room leads to the porch. End of message.
Following a split between members of the West Branch Quaker community, conservative Friends built their own meetinghouse on 2nd Street. The remaining progressive members remodeled the original meetinghouse, which had been built in 1857, in 1885. They removed the partitions to better suit the progressives' needs. The progressives used the meetinghouse until 1915 when they built the new Friends Church.
To make way for a new Friends Church, the original meetinghouse was moved to a new location nearby in 1915 and remodeled first into a movie theater, and later into an auto garage and gift shop. It was moved to its present location within the park in 1964 to help tell the story of Hoover's formative years in West Branch.
Herbert Hoover's parents, Jesse and Hulda Hoover, are buried among relatives at the West Branch Municipal Cemetery on North Maple Street.
Graves of Jesse and Hulda Hoover 229 words Cemetery – Graves of Jesse and Hulda Hoover. 1 ½ minutes. Herbert Hoover’s parents Jesse and Hulda Hoover are buried in this cemetery overlooking the town of West Branch. The two gravestones stand next to each other several rows in from the road that circles this section of the cemetery. As you face the grave markers, Jesse Hoover’s is on the left. It’s about three feet high and a couple of inches thick, with a rounded top. The passage of time has caused the white stone to blacken a bit around the edges. The inscription reads: “Jesse C. Hoover – Died December 13, 1880, Aged 34 Years, 3 Months, & 11 Days. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11, 28” Above the inscription, a circular relief is carved into the stone. The image depicts a hand holding an open book. Hulda Hoover’s tombstone is a foot-and-a-half tall, and several inches thick. The top is gently rounded, but flatter than her husband’s. The inscription reads: “Hulda R. Hoover – Died 2 Month 24, 1884, Aged 35 Years, 9 Months, 20 Days. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” The worn white stone is otherwise unembellished. End of message.
When he died on October 20, 1964 at the age of 90, the 31st President was laid to rest five days later in this quiet, grassy hillside. More than 100,000 people lined the funeral procession route from Cedar Rapids to West Branch on that warm fall day.
Gravesite of President and Mrs. Hoover 392 words Gravesite of President and Mrs. Hoover. 2 ½ minutes. The graves of President Herbert Hoover and his wife Lou Henry Hoover are located on a hilltop that overlooks the National Historic Site from the southwest. Several hundred feet to the northwest, between two rows of trees, is the small white cabin where Herbert Hoover was born. An exhibit panel titled "Hoover Gravesite" stands along the sidewalk by the parking lot for the gravesite. The panel is described in the next message. The main path to the gravesite leads west from the parking area for about 300 feet. The cement path is a bit steep for wheelchair access. A more gradual wheelchair ramp bordered by prairie plants leads south from the parking area, reaching the gravesite after about 450 feet. There are two marble benches to the left of the walkway as you approach the gravesite. Once you reach the gravesite, the path switches from cement to smooth stone and curves gently to the right for about 50 feet before ending abruptly. The graves of President and Mrs. Hoover are to the left, or southwest, of the six-foot wide walkway. Two white marble slabs are laid horizontally on black granite bases, perpendicular to the path. The stones each measure four feet wide by ten feet deep by two feet high. The stone on the left is inscribed on the front and top “Herbert Hoover, 1874-1964.” The stone on the right is inscribed “Lou Henry Hoover, 1874-1944.” Two additional marble blocks sit at the beginning and end of the stone path, framing the site. Each is about three feet high, three feet wide, and two feet deep. Behind the graves is an arc of flat-topped evergreen shrubs 18 inches high, and beyond that, three rows of rounded bushes planted on a curved slope. Finally, forming the outside edge of the engulfing arc is a row of dense evergreens about 15 feet high. Opposite the graves, on the right, or northwest, side of the path, is an American flag atop a flagpole 40 feet high. An eagle with outstretched wings adorns the top of the flagpole. Further to the north and northwest, the view is of the grassy fields, clumps of trees, and crisscrossing paths that make up the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. End of message. Hoover Gravesite 372 words Panel: "Hoover Gravesite." 2 minutes. The panel introduces visitors to President Hoover’s gravesite. The angled panel titled "Hoover Gravesite" stands a respectful distance from the graves of President and Mrs. Hoover, where the visitor faces up a gentle slope. The panel is 36 inches wide and 24 inches deep. The title appears at the top of the panel above introductory text. The text reads: "President Herbert Hoover died in New York City on October 20, 1964, at the age of 90. Five days later his body was interred on this hillside overlooking his birthplace and presidential library — a symbolic vista of his journey from birth to death. The remains of Lou Henry Hoover, who died January 7, 1944, were moved from California and placed beside her husband. Their son Allan selected the gravesite. Iowa architect William Wagner designed the memorial in collaboration with the Hoover family and William Anderson of the Hoover Birthplace Society. The two plainly inscribed gravestones reflect Quaker simplicity." The main image is a color photograph of Herbert Hoover's funeral. Eight men wearing military uniforms from different branches of the armed services hold an American flag above the casket, which lies on a green carpet. Nearby, more men hold flags. Behind the honor guard, a canopy shades a gathering of mourners. More attendees stand behind a row of potted flowers. A caption reads: "A military honor guard carried Hoover's casket to the gravesite. More than 100,000 people lined the funeral procession from Cedar Rapids to West Branch." An inset black and white photograph offers an aerial view of the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., full of people. A caption below the image states: "Before Hoover's burial in West Branch, a service was held in New York City and his body lay in state at the Capitol Rotunda (above) in Washington." In the bottom left corner, a quote from President Lyndon Baines Johnson upon signing the law establishing Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, August 12, 1965, reads: "... one of the rich and rewarding inspirations of my life was to know him ... I shall always cherish his wisdom and his insights, but most especially I shall cherish the inspiration of his character." End of message.
Behind the brick facade stands the wood frame building of Edwin Grinnell's drug store and H.T. Hollingsworth's watch repair. This building, the oldest surviving store, may date back to 1869. A series of jewelers and druggists occupied the building until 1924 when Fred Albin bought it for his meat market. He added the back room and brick facade.
Grinnell Building 160 words Grinnell Building. One minute. The Grinnell Building is located at 112 West Main Street, on the south side of the street. The two-story structure is currently home to a family dental practice. The façade is mostly brick, in hues ranging from red to orange to dark grey. The various colors give the building a speckled look. A single door stands between two oversized windows on the first floor. Two smaller windows grace the second floor. The door and window frames are painted a dusty rose color. There is a gap about three feet wide between the Grinnell Building and the Old Post Office Building to its right. The gap reveals an older grey clapboard structure with a pitched roof behind the modern flat-topped brick façade. It’s just one step up from the street to the sidewalk here, and there’s a ramp at the corner of Poplar Street, to the right of the building. End of message.
Built by Mayor S.C. Gruwell and businessman J.C. Crew shortly after the land was deeded in 1894, this is one of the older storefronts remaining along West Main Street, having been built shortly after the land was deeded in 1894. C.M. Paulsen had a music store here until 1910 when a harness shop occupied the building. It became a variety store in 1960. In recent years it has been the home of the West Branch Heritage Museum.
Gruwell-Crew Building/West Branch Heritage Museum 194 words Gruwell-Crew Building. 1 ¼ minutes. The Gruwell-Crew Building is located at 109 West Main Street, on the north side of the road. The restored one-story structure is mostly wood, on a one-and-a-half-foot foundation of rough-hewn stone. The building is home to the West Branch Heritage Museum. It’s a small, colorful building, about 18 feet wide. Four steps lead up to the rustic double-doors of carved wood and glass. Wooden handrails on either side of the wide staircase will guide your way. The central doors are flanked on either side by storefront windows framed in yellow and orange. A rust-orange awning hangs down over the entire first-floor façade. Above the awning, a flat-topped false front hides the gently pitched roof behind it. This rectangular strip of clapboard construction is about five feet high and painted dark green. A yellow wooden plaque about one foot high and five feet wide near the top reads: “Heritage Museum, West Branch, Iowa.” The sidewalk here is just one step up from the street, and there’s a ramp about 50 feet to your left at the corner of Poplar Street. End of message.
Hannah Varney built this house in 1899 shortly after divorcing her husband. The West Branch Times described the house as being of "fine appearance and finished in modern style."
Hannah Varney House 236 words Hannah Varney House. 1 ½ minute. The Varney House is located on the east side of Downey Street. It’s a square wooden building 20 feet on a side. The two-story house is painted a light tan with chocolate-brown trim around the windows and doors. The Varney House is not open to the public. The grey shingled roof angles up steeply from all sides, reaching a small square plateau in the center. Gabled second-floor windows stick out from the roofline on the left and right sides. Grey shingles also cover the wide front porch, which is supported by four thin carved wooden columns. A white post-and-rail fence about four feet high surrounds the home. A sign five inches wide by 12 inches tall hangs on the gatepost. Beneath the title "Varney House “, the image of the sprawling house shows a leafy tree standing at the entryway, a covered porch. A caption reads: "Varney House circa 1930." Text beneath the image reads: "Hannah Varney built this house in 1899 after divorcing her husband. She lived here with her six children less than a year, moved to Iowa City, and left the house to her daughters, Cora and Clara, who lived here until 1915." A note at the bottom of the sign states: "In 1967, the National Park Service moved the house here from a block away to your right." End of message.
The Hannah Varney House was built in 1899, several years after Herbert Hoover left West Branch to live in Oregon. The National Park Service moved the Varney House a short distance from its original site on Downey Street in 1967. The home is meant to be representative of small town Iowa residences of the period and helps to recreate the past appearance of the neighborhood.
Herbert Hoover Highway is a 46-mile-long Iowa Registered Route. It follows local, state, and county roads, stretching from Iowa City to the Cedar County community of Lowden. It is marked, in places, by signs bearing a distinctive triple-H logo. A marker on Main Street in West Branch commemorates the Herbert Hoover Highway.
Welcome to Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, one of over 400 national parks in the United States. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the law establishing it on August 12, 1965, the year following Herbert Hoover's death. In his remarks, President Johnson said, "The visitors to this historic site will sense the essence of this land of opportunity. For out of those humble origins, this young man found his way to greatness in this land-and, yes, greatness in this world."
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site Entrance<br /><br />98 words<br /><br />Park Entrance - 30 seconds. The park's main entrance sign is on the east side of Parkside Drive, as you enter Herbert Hoover National Historic Site by automobile from Interstate 80 just to the south. The sign is about thirty feet off of the road, and is about five feet tall. In capital serif letters it reads: "Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and Presidential Library-Museum." On the right side of the sign there is a stone column with the National Park Service arrowhead logo and the seal of the National Archives and Records Administration.<br /><br />End of message.
Part of the National Archives, the presidential library allows people to explore the legacy of Herbert Hoover's presidency. Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum opened to the public on August 10, 1962— Herbert Hoover's 88th birthday. The library's original entrance, which is the small portico at the east end of the building supported by four white pillars and topped with an earlier version of the presidential seal, is where the dedication took place.
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is closed to museum visitors, with plans to reopen in 2026. The Research Room will remain open by appointment, and educational programming will continue during the renovation. Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. Two minutes. The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is a sprawling one-story building of fieldstone construction with white trim. The roof’s multiple gables and inclines are topped with slate-grey shingles. The library’s main entrance faces south. A short portico about 12 feet wide leads to four white-framed doors, each inset with eight small square windowpanes. Multi-paned windows to the left and right of the entrance continue the pattern across a large part of the southern façade. Two square columns on either side of the portico support its front corners. A concrete blockade about three feet high and one foot on each side stands in between the columns, so be sure to avoid it as you enter. A driveway runs past the front of the library, leading to a parking area to the library’s southwest. Parallel to the driveway, just to its south, is a two-way paved road that leads into the site from Parkside Drive. Two flagpoles stand on a strip of grass separating the driveway and road. One displays an American flag; on the other hangs the flag of the state of Iowa. A second, unused entrance to the library faces east. Here, four square columns line the front of a shallow portico. The Presidential Seal of the United States adorns the pediment above it. It’s a small step up to the portico; then two more steps up to the door. End of message.
Heritage Square is the name of the small plaza anchored by a gazebo near the intersection of Downey and Main Streets. The gazebo is modeled after an earlier bandstand that sheltered the town pump near that location between 1895 and 1912. The pump itself had been in existence since the early 1870's, and the bandstand became a popular site for concerts.
The South Downey Street Bridge extends across a tributary of the West Branch of the Wapsinonoc Creek. When Herbert Hoover was a boy, the creek was just a small stream of water trickling through marshy wetlands. Young Herbert and the neighborhood kids took their willow fishing poles about a quarter mile east to catch sunfish and catfish in the main creek.
Hoover Creek at the South Downey Street Bridge 211 words Hoover Creek at the South Downey Street Bridge. 1 ½ minutes. The Hoover Creek meanders east-west through the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. The creek is just a few feet wide, with shrubs and a few trees along its banks. At Downey Street, the creek flows beneath the South Downey Street Bridge. Downey Street is a gravel road about 12 feet wide with a wooden boardwalk on either side. Elsewhere, there’s a strip of grass separating the boardwalks from the roadway, but at the bridge, the boardwalks come right up alongside the road. Boardwalks can be slick in wet weather, so watch your step. The bridge is about 25 feet long, bordered on each side by a four-foot-high wooden post-and-rail fence. It’s about ten feet down from the bridge to the creek below. From the east side of the bridge, the view is toward Parkside Drive, which runs north-south alongside the park. The Friends Meetinghouse is about 60 feet away, at 2:00 on the clock face. The visitor center is about 200 feet away, at 10:00. If you’re facing west from the bridge, the Presidential Library and Museum is at 11:00 and about 200 feet away. The Birth Cottage is at 2:00, about 60 feet from the bridge. End of message.
The Hoover Nature Trail follows the railroad that passed through the president's hometown. As a child, Herbert Hoover developed an early interest in geology while collecting interesting rocks along the railroad grade.
Hoover Nature Trail (Trailhead) 184 words Hoover Nature Trail (Trailhead). 1 ¼ minutes. The Herbert Hoover Nature Trail begins on the north side of College Street and continues north from there. It’s a flat gravel path seven feet wide. Grass borders the trail on both sides, and a line of trees runs parallel about 15 feet to the left. The area surrounding the trailhead includes a mixture of industrial buildings and suburban homes. About 20 feet north of the road, on the left side of the trail, is a plain wooden bulletin board. The unpainted, unadorned structure is covered by a shallow pitched roof and incorporates a built-in plank bench. It’s about nine feet tall and five feet wide. On the right-hand side of the trail is a covered trash can as well as a six-foot signpost that displays three signs. A narrow wooden sign at the top is carved with the words, “Hoover Nature Trail.” Below that, a yellow metal sign reads, “No motorized vehicles,” and at the bottom a green sign reminds users to clean up after their pets. End of message.
In 1938 Lou Henry Hoover suggested establishing an organization to own and manage the birthplace. The Herbert Hoover Birthplace Society was organized the following year.
Hoover Presidential Foundation Building 235 words Hoover Presidential Foundation Building. 1 ¼ minutes. First of two descriptions at this location. The offices of the Hoover Presidential Foundation are in a large yellow house on the west side of Downey Street. The rambling three-story structure sits atop a small hill, which it shares with a couple of sprawling shade trees. There is a small parking area to the northwest of the house that can be accessed from the main library’s parking lot further to the northwest. A directional sign with a panel titled “Hoover Presidential Foundation” stands along the sidewalk at the base of the small hill, directly across the driveway from the front of the presidential library. The sign is described in the following message. An open porch wraps around the left side of the building. Graceful white pillars support the roof of the porch. White trim also outlines the building’s windows and doors. On the left side of the east-facing façade, five wide grey steps lead up to the porch beneath a grand pediment. Bay windows grace the first and second floors to the right of the stairs, and the third floor features a massive triangular gable with a decorative three-paneled window set in it. On the north side of the building, another set of stairs leads up to the porch from the path that connects to the parking area. End of message. Hoover Presidential Foundation 192 words Panel: "Hoover Presidential Foundation." 1 minute. Second of two descriptions at this location. This panel identifies the building on the hill and provides direction to President Hoover’s gravesite. The upright panel titled "Hoover Presidential Foundation" is located across the road from the presidential library. The panel is 24 inches square. The title appears at the top of the panel above introductory text. The text reads: "The Hoover Presidential Foundation, located in the house at the top of the hill, developed and curated the memorial park until 1965, when the national historic site was established." To the right of the text, a historic photograph shows a small group of men and women standing in front of the building that housed the foundation. A caption reads: "Officers of the Herbert Hoover Birthplace Society pose in 1952. The foundation traces its roots to the society, which was founded in 1939. On the bottom half of the panel, white letters appear on a brown background. An arrow points the way to Herbert Hoover's gravesite and the Tallgrass Prairie Observation Deck. Text indicates that the distance is .25 miles. End of message.
A lone maple tree grows on the land where the Hoover family's second home once stood. The one-acre parcel, on the corner of Downey and Cedar streets, had a two-story frame house with two chimneys. Maple trees lined the front yard and a wild crabapple tree grew in back of the spacious four-room home.
House of the Maples Site 171 words House of the Maples Site. 1 minute. First of two descriptions at this location. The House of the Maples—the Hoover family’s second home in West Branch—once stood on this spot, on the east side of Downey Street. Today it’s an empty lot approximately 100 feet square. The area is flat and grass-covered, with a few trees spread out around the property. One of the trees is a very old maple, possibly old enough to have shaded the Hoover’s second home. Downey Street is open only to pedestrians, but the lot is bounded on the east by Parkside Drive and on the north by the Library entrance road. Both thoroughfares are open to vehicular traffic, so please stay alert. A gravel driveway about 30 feet long extends east from Downey Street onto the south edge of the property. Further to the south is the pale-green P.T. Smith House. An exhibit panel, described in the following message, tells about the house. End of message. Rooms Big Enough To Swing a Cat In 432 words Panel: "Rooms Big Enough to Swing a Cat In." 2 ¼ minutes. Second of two descriptions at this location. This panel describes the Hoover’s second home. The angled panel titled "Rooms big enough to swing a cat in" stands on the empty lot at the site of the Hoovers' second home, known as the House of the Maples. The panel is 36 inches wide and 24 inches deep. The title, quoted from Herbert's father Jesse, is followed by an introduction: "Jesse Hoover was doing so well with his new farming implement business that he moved his family in May 1879 into a four-room house here. As adults Herbert, Theodore, and Mary had mixed memories of their second home. They fondly recalled catching lightning bugs and sledding with Etta, Eddie, and Wallace Smith, who lived next door. Unfortunately, however, Jesse died in 1880 at age 34 of a heart ailment. Hulda kept the family together managing Jesse's business assets and taking in sewing and an occasional boarder. But tragedy struck again in 1884, when she died at 35 of typhoid fever. The orphans went to live with relatives. They were reunited later in Oregon." A note states: "The Hoovers' house was razed in 1923. The adjacent home of Peter T. Smith's family is the only house Herbert Hoover remembered on a visit years later." A quote from the West Branch Local Record, May 29, 1879, reads: "Mr. J. C. Hoover moved into his new house Tuesday morning, and is now 'as snug as a bug in a rug.'" In the full panel photograph, two chimneys rise from the peaked roof atop a plain two-story home. Two windows bracket the front door, which stands open. A woman wearing a long-sleeved, ankle-length dress stands in the yard near a few trees. A caption reads: "Hulda Hoover stands in front of the house about 1883. Herbert's brother, Theodore, called it the 'House of the Maples' in later years." An inset to the left of the image of the house shows a newspaper advertisement. It reads: "Ho, for Kansas! But if you do not go there go to J. C. Hoover and buy your Farming Implements including three leading sulky plows, new departure tongueless cultivator, Orchard City wagon, buck eye reaper, rubber bucket pumps, sewing machines, and lightning rods. In face everything in my line. Come and see me, for I will not be beat in quality or prices. J. C. Hoover." Below the advertisement, a caption reads: "Advertisement for Jesse Hoover's business, 1879." End of message.
In 1951 Herbert Hoover became the first recipient of the prestigious Iowa Award, which is bestowed to "recognize the outstanding service of Iowans in the fields of science, medicine, law, religion, social welfare education, agriculture, industry, government and other public service." Only 12 other Iowans have received this award.
Iowa Award 215 words Iowa Award. 1 ½ minutes. The Iowa Award is located about ten feet east of the Statue of Isis, along the cement sidewalk that connects the Friends Meetinghouse with the Presidential Library. It sits about two feet from the sidewalk on the south side. The award is a rectangular stone two feet wide and 15 inches deep with two square metal plaques mounted on it, side by side. Each of the brown metal plaques is 9 inches square with flattened corners. The stone base is multi-hued— primarily grey but mottled with shades of beige, brown, and red. The stone’s surface is flush to the grass in the front but angled up so that it is about 3 inches off the ground in the back. Raised letters on the left-hand plaque read: “To Herbert Hoover, President of the United States, native son of Iowa, citizen of the world, statesman, humanitarian, engineer, administrator, who has worn the world’s greatest honors with humility , the State of Iowa grants the Iowa Award.” On the right-hand plaque, raised lettering reads: “Presented by the Iowa Centennial Memorial Commission at joint session of House and Senate of 54th General Assembly.” End of text. Two medium-sized evergreen trees stand a few feet behind the award. End of message.
Isaac Miles was a widower with two young daughters when he moved to West Branch in 1874 and opened a drugstore. Isaac's daughters, Providence and Abbie were around the same age as the Hoover children, and it's likely they played together in this rural playground filled with natural wonders.
Isaac Miles Farmstead 233 words Isaac Miles Farmstead. 1 ½ minute. The Isaac Miles Farm sits on the eastern edge of the Tallgrass Prairie, near Parkside Drive. The farmstead can be reached by foot from the prairie trail or via a small gravel road from Parkside Drive. Its six wooden structures stand on about two acres of land. If you are facing north from the center of the farm complex, the barn will be at eleven o’clock on the clock face. It's a simple red wooden structure about two stories high with a pitched roof of grey shingles. At nine o’clock is the machine shed, a ramshackle brown, one-story structure. The machine shed is open on its east side, revealing an array of farming equipment stored inside. At seven o’clock is the chicken house, a low, brown, windowless construction with two metal ventilation chimneys on top. At five o’clock is a small white shed and next to it, a large white farmhouse. The house is a plain two-story structure with a double gabled roof. Finally, at two o’clock is a small white garage with a steeply pitched roof of brown shingles. Next to it stands a metal-framed windmill about 75 feet tall. An exhibit panel is posted at the Tallgrass Prairie Observation Deck near the Gravesite. The exhibit panel, described at the observation deck location, tells about the farm and its buildings. End of message.
The main wing of this white, two-story wood frame structure was completed in 1872, two years before Herbert Hoover was born. Dr. James Staples and his wife Eliza bought it in 1876. The couple, originally from Vermont, had decided to retire in West Branch.
James Staples House 131 words Staples House. One minute. The Staples House is a large off-white structure on the west side of Poplar Street, south of Wetherell Street. The two-story, wooden building is about 30 feet wide, with a one-story enclosed porch stretching across the entire façade. Dark brown shingles cover the pitched roof, and yellow paint accents the structure around the windows, at the corners of the house, and just below the roofline. A slender brick chimney pokes up from the top of the structure. The home is set back about 25 feet from Poplar Street, up a small, grassy slope. It features a screened in porch. There is no fence surrounding the house and no boardwalk on this side of the street. The Staples House is not open to the public. End of message.
Jesse Hoover was moving ahead with the changing times when he sold his blacksmith shop and went into the farm implement business. His farm implement shop was located on the corner of 1st Street and Main Street, near the center of town.
For thirty-six years Dr. L.J. Leech, a Civil War veteran and graduate of Iowa State University, had lived in the Laban Miles House next door; renting it at first in 1884, and then buying it two years later when the bank foreclosed on the home. By 1920, the well-liked country doctor and Iowa legislator decided to have a new home built for himself.
L.J. Leech House 247 words L.J. Leech House. 1 ¾ minutes. The Leech House sits on the east side of Downey Street. It’s a two-story white home with pale grey-blue trim. The house is 25 feet wide and 35 feet deep. The steeply pitched roof overhangs a front porch that runs the full width of the house. The shingled roof is grey, tinged with a green mossy veneer. Double glass doors are set into a broad gable on the second floor of the façade and a low railing in front of them encloses a shallow balcony. The Leech House is not open to the public. A white picket fence surrounds the home, running alongside the boardwalk that serves the east side of Downey Street. The fence’s pointed pickets alternate between 3 ½ and 4 feet tall. A sign five inches wide by 12 inches tall hangs on the gatepost. Beneath the title “Leech House “, a black and white photograph shows the army band seated in front of the house. A caption states: "Army Band plays for Leech, a Civil War veteran and Iowa legislator, in the 1930s." Beneath the image, text reads: "Dr. Lewis J. Leech built and moved into this house in 1920. Before that he hosted ice cream socials and Fourth of July parties on the lot. When Dr. Leech died in 1937 at age 91, former President Hoover praised his 'long life of usefulness … to his neighbors and friends.'" End of message.
In 1870, Laban Miles had married Hulda Hoover’s younger sister, Agnes Minthorn, just five days after Hulda and Jesse Hoover were wed. By 1875 they were settling down in this house, built sometime between 1869 and 1872, with a family of their own.
Laban Miles House 312 words Laban Miles House. 2 ¼ minutes. The Laban Miles House is located at the southeast corner of Downey and Wetherell Streets. Although Downey Street is only for pedestrians within the historic site, Wetherell Street is open to vehicular traffic, so please be alert. If you are heading north on Downey Street, a log blocks the way just before you reach Wetherell. For safety, use the boardwalk, which ramps down gently to Wetherell Street just north of the Laban Miles House. The wooden, two-story Laban Miles House faces west onto Downey Street. It’s 20 feet wide and 35 feet deep, with a single-story extension in the back. The building is painted pale gold and accented with thin brown trim around its many windows. The pitched roofline creates a wide gable above the second-floor windows. A narrow porch frames the front door and is supported by two carved wooden posts. The Laban Miles House is not open to the public. A white picket fence separates the house from the boardwalk that runs along the east side of Downey Street. The fence is about 3 ½ feet tall. A sign five inches wide by 12 inches tall hangs on the gatepost. Beneath the title “Laban Miles House “, a black and white photograph shows a two-story house with shutters and two brick chimneys rising from the peaked roof. Outside, two men and four women pose for the photo. A caption reads: "After the Mileses moved, Dr. L. J. Leech's family (shown) lived here for 36 years." Text beneath the photograph states: "This was the home of Herbert Hoover's aunt and uncle, Agnes and Laban Miles, before they moved in 1878 to Oklahoma Territory. Laban served as agent on the Osage and Kaw Indian Reservation. Hoover, age eight, stayed with them for several months after his father died." End of message.
Charles F. Schroeder had this building constructed in 1912 for his men's clothing store. The modern store boasted large display windows and electric lights. Since that time, several shops have used the building and made alterations to its interior.
Leech Building 207 words Leech Building. 1 ½ minutes. The Leech Building is located at 103 North Downey Street, on the east side of the road. It abuts the former Citizen’s Savings Bank on the right and the Leech-Gruwell Garage Building on the left. The two-story structure features large storefront windows on the first floor, with a central doorway set back several feet from the sidewalk. A four-foot band of vertical wooden slats runs above the first-floor windows and door; vertical slats also frame the first-floor on the left and right. The building is painted a creamy yellowish color and the paint is peeling in many places. The second-floor façade is constructed of beige brick. Three rectangular windows are set into the second-floor façade below the flat roofline, all trimmed in a mustardy-tan. A plaque placed in the lower left corner of the left-hand window reads: “This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.” The sidewalk is one small step up from the street here, and there is a designated accessible parking spot directly in front of the building. Please watch your step, as the sidewalk contains some cracks and uneven joints. End of message.
Start your visit at the Visitor Center, where park rangers are available to answer questions and help you get oriented. Allow yourself about 30 minutes in the Visitor Center, which is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily.
Be a Junior Ranger at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
The Junior Ranger program helps kids get involved and learn more about Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. Anyone can become a Junior Ranger by completing activities during a visit to the park or at home.
Picnic Where the President Picnicked
Picnic where the President picnicked! Herbert Hoover celebrated his 80th birthday in 1954 at a picnic shelter built by Boy Scouts in his honor. Herbert Hoover National Historic Site has two picnic shelters.
Get Started at the Visitor Center
Start your visit at the Visitor Center, where park rangers are available to answer questions and help you get oriented. Allow yourself up to 30 minutes in the Visitor Center, which is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily.
Walk the Nature Trails
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site offers over two miles of trails through the tallgrass prairie and along Hoover Creek for hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and nature study. Trail maps are available from the visitor center. In the winter the snow-covered trails are not groomed for skis.
Tour the Presidential Library & Museum
The Presidential Library and Museum is independently operated and maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), a federal agency. Permanent galleries exhibiting artifacts of President Hoover's life take you from his boyhood in Iowa, through his public service career, and final years in New York.
Visit Downtown West Branch
The West Branch Commercial Historic District is just outside the historic site along Downey and Main streets. It is a national historic district which preserves fifteen downtown buildings built from 1875 through 1929. The buildings house shops and restaurants.
Take a Self-guided Tour
The grounds of the historic site are open 24 hours a day. Pick up a map at the Visitor Center or download the NPS App to your phone. Then visit the Birthplace Cottage, Blacksmith Shop, Schoolhouse, Friends Meetinghouse, Statue of Isis, Gravesite, and other historic features of the park.
Explore Herbert Hoover's Hometown With the NPS App
Use the NPS App on your visit to West Branch, Iowa, and discover the places and people that shaped the early life of the 31st President.
Tours
Count: 4
Explore the Memorial Landscape
Take a full tour of the historic site and learn about the community that made Herbert Hoover the man we know today.
Historic Downtown West Branch
The West Branch Commercial Historic District illustrates the prosperous decades (1870-1916) when West Branch grew from a country town of wooden storefronts into a bustling center of rural commerce and decorative brick business blocks.
Quick, Basic, & After Hours
A short walking tour acquaints you with the historic site's main features. This is good tour to take if you arrive after the visitor center, museum, and historic buildings close.
What About Those Other Houses?
What are those other houses at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site? Several were part of President Hoover's early childhood neighborhood. Others were built after he moved away from West Branch. Their architectural styles recall the late late 1800s and round out the neighborhood setting of the President's upbringing.
