Herbert Hoover National Historic Site: Why you should visit
West Branch is a small agricultural town in eastern Iowa on Interstate 80. With a population of around 2,500 people, it is safe to say that it’s a quiet town where everyone knows your name. While West Branch is small, it packs a mighty historical punch. The Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and Presidential Library and Museum is located in West Branch and commemorates the life of the 31st President of the United States.
Herbert Hoover’s early life
Herbert Clark Hoover was born in a small home in West Branch on August 10, 1874, to Quaker parents. Hoover lived in a small farming community of around 500 people for his first 11 years. When Hoover was six years old, his father died from rheumatic fever. Less than four years later, in 1884, his mother died of typhoid fever.
Now an orphan, Hoover would be sent to live with relatives in Oregon the following year. Despite the early trials, Hoover would go on to attend Stanford and have a successful career in mining. By 1914, Hoover had married, had a family, and had amassed a fortune of more than 100 million dollars in today’s money. Also that year, Hoover would later say, “I did not realize it at the moment, but on August 3, 1914, my career was over forever. I was on the slippery road of public life.”
“Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity.”
– Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover’s political career began.
With the outbreak of World War I, Hoover would chair a committee in charge of distributing relief to tens of thousands of Americans stranded in Europe. He would also establish the Commission for Relief in Belgium, which imported millions of tons of food to relieve a hunger crisis in Belgium. This was the start of Hoover’s long public service career. His European successes led President Woodrow Wilson to appoint him head of the U.S. Food Administration. He would be dubbed the ‘food czar’ and charged with supply support to the Allied Powers while preventing domestic price surges and shortages. To pull this off, Hoover devised ways to save food for soldiers by encouraging the public to follow specific rationing practices, such as meatless Mondays, wheatless Wednesdays, and “when in doubt, eat potatoes.” His success earned him a national reputation as an astounding administrator and catapulted him further into the national spotlight.
He would serve as the Secretary of Commerce from 1921 to 1928 under the Calvin Coolidge administration. When Coolidge announced he would not seek another term, Hoover emerged as the frontrunner for the Republican ticket and would go on to win the election, becoming the 31st President of the United States. Hoover is widely regarded as a below-average president by most historians but often receives praise for his humanitarian work as a public official. The Great Depression started during the Hoover administration. Hoover’s inability to recognize the severity of the economic situation was critical to being a one-term president. In the 1932 presidential election, Franklin D. Roosevelt won in a landslide, carrying every state outside the Northeast.
“I’m the only person of distinction who’s ever had a depression named after him.”
― Herbert Hoover
President Herbert Hoover
When Hoover won the presidency in 1928, his boyhood home in West Branch would become a tourist destination. The Scellers family lived in the house from 1890 until 1934. Mrs. Scellers is said to have enjoyed showing visitors the home. Her notes on visitors showed the cottage was very popular with people from Europe. They often visited to pay respects to the man who did so much to help alleviate suffering during and after World War I. The Hoovers reacquired the cottage after Mrs. Scellers passed away in 1935. They immediately began working to restore the home to how it was during Hoover’s childhood. The Herbert Hoover National Historic Site was established on August 12, 1965.
Visiting the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
An excellent place to start is the visitor center. You can pick up a park brochure, speak with rangers, and stamp your NPS passport. There is quite a bit to see at the site. You can expect at least a few hours to half a day of exploring. If you bring lunch, enjoy it at the picnic shelter built by the Boy Scouts. Hoover celebrated his 80th birthday under the shelter in 1954.
“This cottage where I was born is physical proof of the unbounded opportunity of American life.”
– Herbert Hoover
After the V.C., you will surely want to check out the Birthplace Cottage. The humble home was built by Hoover’s father, Jesse, in 1871. Herbert, or as his family called him “Bertie,” was born at the cottage on August 10, 1874. Looking into the home, you can see how Herbert Hoover embodies the American dream. The house was without electricity and indoor plumbing. The main room was used as a living room, dining room, and kitchen. Rag rugs are sewn together from old clothing scraps and cover the floor. Old newspapers would be stuffed between the makeshift rugs and floor to keep the cottage warmer in the winter. The bedroom was used for Hoover’s parents and his two siblings. The cradle in the bedroom is a replica of an original made by Jesse Hoover. You can see the original in the Visitor Center. The furniture in the room is a replica but is very similar to what the Hoovers owned. The prescient’s mother, Hulda, grew vegetables behind the cottage and flower gardens filled with Marigolds, peonies, and snapdragons by the home. Herbert only lived in the cottage for a few years. As Jesse’s blacksmith business prospered, the family moved into a larger house nearby.
“My recollection of my father is of necessity dim indeed, but I retain one vivid memento from this time. Play barefoot around the blacksmith shop, I stepped on a chip of hot iron and carry the brand of Iowa on my foot to this day.”
– Herbert Hoover
Next up, visit the President’s father, Jesse’s blacksmith shop. Jesse owned the shop from 1871 to 1878. The shop is a reconstruction based on Herbert’s older brother Theodore’s sketches. The blacksmith shop is filled with period tools.
“Iowa in those years was filled with days of school, and who does not remember with a glow, some gentlewoman, who with infinite patience and kindness, drilled into us those foundations of all we know today.”
– Herbert Hoover
You can visit a one-room schoolhouse that may or may not have been attended by Hoover. That tidbit has been lost to history. Herbert Hoover entered school in 1880 at the age of 5. We would attend three years of school in West Branch. The schoolhouse was also used as the town’s first Quaker meetinghouse.
The Hoovers and the Quaker community used the Friends Meetinghouse. Furnished with plain period pieces, it looks much the same as it would have when the Hoovers attended functions there. West Branch was a deeply religious community, and Quakers used the meetinghouse for worship weekly. The Quakers believed all people were equal before God. This belief allowed the President’s mother, Hulda to take an active role in the meetinghouse activities. This would lead to Herbert Hoover getting well acquainted with Quaker meetings. In his memoirs, Hoover described the meetings, “Those acquainted with Quakers faith, and who know the primitive furnishings of the Quaker meeting-house, the solemnity of the long hours of meeting awaiting the spirit to move someone, will know the intense repression upon a ten-year-old boy who might not even count his toes. All this may not have been in recreation, but it was strong training in patience.” While Hoover was not a very active Quaker in adulthood, these beliefs left a lasting impression on him as a youth. He would put them into practice as an adult with a career of conscience. This is evident by his humanitarian work and unabashed faith in the American way of life.
Appreciation for Hoover’s humanitarian work is on display at his National Historic Site. As an expression of gratitude to Hoover for helping feed the hungry during World War I, the people of Belgium presented him with the statue “Isis, Goddess of Life, in 1922. Belgian artist Auguste Puttemans created the seven-and-a-half-foot bronze sculpture. It was moved to West Branch in 1939. Many Belgians, including children, refugees, and soldiers, donated to a fund to create the statue, which highlights Hoover’s dedication to helping others.
“Children are our greatest natural resource.”
– Herbert Hoover
After his defeat for a second term in the Oval Office, Hoover would continue giving back. He would be chairman of the Boys’ Club of America for 25 years. During that time, he helped raise money to open 500 new chapters. Hoover’s dedication to assisting children also inspired the creation of UNICEF, which is the United Nations Children’s Fund.
“Children are the most wholesome part of the race, the sweetest, for they are the freshest from the hand of God.”
– Herbert Hoover
The President’s and first lady’s graves are marked with simple marble slabs. You can pay your respects at the historic site. Herbert Hoover died at the age of 90 in 1964. More than 100,000 people lined the funeral procession route from Cedar Rapids to West Branch to say their goodbyes. He should be buried in West Branch. Hover wrote of the community: “My grandparents and my parents came here in a covered wagon. In this community, they toiled and worshiped God. The most formative years of my boyhood were spent here. My roots are in this soil.”
Hiking the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
You should stretch your legs once you take in the historical site’s tremendous history. There are more than 2 miles of hiking trails at the site. You can get a trail map at the V.C.. The interpretive trail is easy and a little over a mile. It’s a loop that is dotted with interpretive signs. It’s also very popular with birders. The Prairie Trail loops through 81 acres of tallgrass prairie. This trail is a beautiful way to understand how Iowa used to be before it was plowed and planted with corn. Today, less than one percent of prairie land exists in the state. Hoover was an avid fisherman and was known to appreciate the outdoors.
“To go fishing is the chance to wash one’s soul with pure air, with the rush of the brook, or with the shimmer of sun on blue water. It brings meekness and inspiration from the decency of nature, charity toward tackle-makers, patience toward fish, a mockery of profits and egos, a quieting of hate, a rejoicing that you do not have to decide a darned thing until next week. And it is discipline in the equality of men – for all men are equal before fish.”
– Herbert Hoover
Many unique places were protected forever during his administration, including Appomattox Court House, Canyon de Chelly, Fort Necessity, Isle Royale, Great Sand Dunes, Death Valley, Saguaro, and many more. Hoover’s contributions to protecting America’s best idea are overlooked, at least in our opinion.
“The spiritual uplift, the goodwill, cheerfulness and optimism that accompanies every expedition to the outdoors is the peculiar spirit that our people need in times of suspicion and doubt…No other organized joy has values comparable to the outdoor experience.”
– Herbert Hoover
There is no entrance fee for the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. The Presidential Library does charge a fee. We hope you enjoy visiting the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and appreciate President Hoover’s truly all-American story.
“My country owes me no debt. It gave me, as it gives every boy and girl, a chance. It gave me schooling, independence of action, opportunity for service and honor. In no other land could a boy from a country village, without inheritance or influential friends, look forward with unbounded hope. My whole life has taught me what America means. I am indebted to my country beyond any human power to repay.”
– Herbert Hoover
