Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, in West Branch, Iowa, includes Hoover’s birthplace, other buildings from his childhood, and his gravesite. Hoover was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933, at the beginning of the Great Depression.
Hoover’s grandparents were among the Quakers who settled the town of West Branch in the 1850’s. The historic site includes the two-room cottage where Hoover was born in 1874, a blacksmith shop similar to the one owned by his father, the first West Branch schoolhouse, and the Friends Meetinghouse where the Hoover family worshiped. Hoover and his wife, Lou, are buried on a knoll overlooking the cottage. Also on the site is the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum, which houses his papers. Visitors may walk through a restored tall-grass prairie at the site.
The property became a national historic site in 1965. The National Park Service operates the historic site, and the National Archives and Records Administration manages the library.
