Herbert Hoover National Historic Site

110 Parkside Drive, West Branch, Iowa 52358

Burial site of President Herbert Clark Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover

Photos

Herbert & Lou Hoover's Burial Site

Photo taken by Karen Bittinger in Oct. 2004

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Map

Coordinates:
+41.66813, -91.35206
41°40'05" N, 91°21'07" W

Quadrangle map:
West Branch

Street View

Description

The Herbert Hoover Historic Site includes the birthplace of Herbert Hoover, the Presidential Library and Museum, and the grave site of President and Mrs. Hoover. Hoover was born in a two-room cottage located here at the site, but was orphaned at the age of nine. He left West Branch for Oregon to live with relatives and never lived here again. Hoover was educated at Stanford University and became a mining engineer. He traveled the world with his work, returned to the United States from Australia to marry Lou Henry in 1899, and the couple immediately left for China. (Lou Henry was born in Waterloo, Iowa, northwest of here. She was raised in California, and met Hoover at Stanford University, where she was also a geology student.)

As head of the U.S. Food Administration before and during World War I, Hoover rose to prominence for his humanitarian efforts. Hoover served as the Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge and easily secured the nomination for president in 1928, defeating Al Smith in the Presidential Election in a landslide.

The great market crash of 1929 occurred just eight months into his term, and he made several efforts to stem the rushing tide of economic collapse. One of those efforts was a massive public works project to dam the Colorado River that was officially named Hoover Dam in 1947.

The site was listed on the NRHP on October 15, 1966 and declared a National Historic Landmark on June 23, 1965.

National Register information

Status: Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966
Reference number: 66000110
Areas of significance: Politics/Government; Religion
Level of significance: National
Evaluation criteria: A - Event; B - Person
Property type: District
Historic functions: Religious structure; Single dwelling; Secondary structure
Current functions: Museum; Single dwelling; Secondary structure; Park
Periods of significance: 1875-1899; 1850-1874
Significant years: 1874; 1885
Number of properties: Contributing buildings: 28
Contributing structures: 8
Contributing sites: 14
Contributing objects: 8
Non-contributing buildings: 5
Non-contributing structures: 4

Update Log

May 1, 2017: New Street View added by Bill Eichelberger
August 31, 2014: Photos imported by Dave King
February 13, 2013: Updated by J.R. Manning: Added GPS Coordinates, NRHP Listing and Description
August 15, 2010: Added by Karen Bittinger

Sources

Karen Bittinger - kasubi [at] verizon [dot] net
J.R. Manning - Lugnuts969 [at] gmail [dot] com
Dave King
Bill Eichelberger - wallyum [at] hotmail [dot] com
National Register database - Reference number 66000110 (Search for documents)
National Historic Landmark information