Herbert Hoover NHS

When Herbert Hoover was elected President in 1928, he became the first President from west of the Mississippi River. As a boy, Hoover had lived in the small town of West Branch, Iowa, and he often spoke fondly of his childhood there. In 1963, Hoover returned to West Branch to dedicate the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. Among the buildings that now stand in the park are a blacksmith shop similar to the one owned by his father, the first West Branch schoolhouse, and the Quaker meetinghouse where the Hoover family worshiped. In the 1960s, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum first opened to maintain Hoover's presidential papers and memorabilia.