Herbert Hoover - West Branch, Iowa
Posted by: GT.US
N 41° 40.220 W 091° 20.826
15T E 637595 N 4614494
This small house was the home to Herbert Hoover, and is now the Herbert Hoover Birthplace memorial.
Waymark Code: WM7DPM
Location: Iowa, United States
Date Posted: 10/10/2009
Views: 10
The National Park service website at (
visit link) tells us:
Birthplace Cottage
Herbert Hoover, the first President born west of the Mississippi River, was born in a small two-room cottage on August 10, 1874.
Herbert's father Jesse and grandfather Eli Hoover built the cottage in 1871. The Hoover family lived in it until 1879.
The little house was near the center of the small but growing town of West Branch. Jesse and his wife Hulda hosted family gatherings and spiritual meetings here.
In the 1930's, President and Mrs. Hoover purchased and restored the cottage, which Hoover said was "physical proof of the unbounded opportunity of American life."
Wiki says:
Hoover was born on August 10, 1874 in the town of West Branch, Iowa. He was the first president born west of the Mississippi River, and remains the only Iowan president. His father, Jesse Hoover, was a blacksmith and farm implement store owner, of German (Pfautz, Wehmeyer) and German-Swiss (Huber, Burkhart) descent. His mother, Hulda (Minthorn) Hoover, was born in Norwich, Ontario, Canada of English and Irish (probably Scots-Irish) descent. Both were Quakers.