Season 1, Episode 31-Herbert Hoover and West Branch

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Season 1, Episode 31: Herbert Hoover and West Branch

We are heading across the Mississippi River for the first time to visit the birthplace of Herbert Hoover, in the hills of West Branch, Iowa! Bert was touched from the beginning by hard work and tough times, and more tragedy than any other president as a child.

Learn about how Herbert Hoover the President was shaped by the hardscrabble life he led in West Branch, as well as what happened to his birthplace and site!

The Herbert Hoover National Historic Site page.

Information on the Birthplace Cottage from the National Park Service.

The Hoover Birthplace Cottage from the National Park Foundation.

A 1994 video from CSPAN on the site.

Be sure to listen to Herbert Hoover’s “Visiting the Presidents” Episode from Season 2, “Herbert Hoover and Palo Alto” on his homes!

Also, be sure to listen to Herbert Hoover’s “Visiting the Presidents” Episode from Season 3, “Herbert Hoover’s Tomb” on his gravesite!

From my October 2016 Visit!

Young Herbert
The bedroom where young Herbert was born
g room
Herbert Hoover cottage
From the back yard of the Hoover cottage.

From my August 2021 Visit!

The Herbert Hoover Birthplace!
At the Herbert Hoover Birthplace!
Heading in!
Main living space (with large bed) but also kitchen/dining room/living room)
Bedroom (and room where Herbert was born)
View out the back (including view of Herbert’s gravesite in the clearing at center)
Main street of West Branch
Jesse’s barn and business
The stone and marker that was once in front of the Hoover birthplace
Hoover birthplace!

From My May 2022 Visit!

At Herbert Hoover’s birth cottage
Waymarker on Herbert Hoover’s birthplace
The birth cottage
Herbert’s birthplace cottage
Looking towards the gravesite
Historic Images of the Hoover Birthplace, including when it was attached to the two-story frame house.
Birthplace of Herbert Hoover etching
The home when it was opened for tours
The Hoover Birthplace and site
Grant Wood’s painting of the Hoover Birthplace; Hoover rejected it because Wood included the large house at center in front of Hoover’s humble cottage.
Herbert Hoover Portrait by Elmer Wesley Greene

Herbert Hoover Birthplace: 110 Parkside Drive, West Branch, Iowa.

Check Out the Most Recent Episodes!

How I Spent My Summer of Presidential Travels 2026, Part 1! – Visiting the Presidents

BONUS episode featuring my summer of presidential travels as I fit in as many birthplaces, gravesites, homes, and other sites into one history professor's summer break. My trip back to Ohio from Arizona, and the start of my New England swing! Links to Previous Episodes Mentioned:Birthplaces"Andrew Johnson and Raleigh""Calvin Coolidge and Plymouth Notch""Lyndon Johnson and Stonewall"Homes"Franklin Pierce and Concord""Abraham Lincoln and Springfield""Benjamin Harrison and Indianapolis""Calvin Coolidge and Northampton" for the Coolidge Homestead"Franklin Roosevelt and Warm Springs" for Campobello Island "Lyndon Johnson and the LBJ Ranch"Gravesites"Millard Fillmore's Tomb""Franklin Pierce's Tomb" "Abraham Lincoln's Tomb""Benjamin Harrison's Tomb" "Calvin Coolidge's Tomb""Lyndon Johnson's Tomb" Support the showAlso, check out “Visiting the Presidents” on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! Support the showAlso, check out “Visiting the Presidents” on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! 
  1. How I Spent My Summer of Presidential Travels 2026, Part 1!
  2. S3 E38 Gerald Fords Tomb
  3. S3 E37 Richard Nixon's Tomb
  4. S3 E36 Lyndon Johnson's Tomb
  5. S3 E35 John F Kennedy's Tomb

Nash, George. The Life of Herbert Hoover: The Engineer 1874-1914.

Smith, Richard Norton. An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover.

Burner, David. Herbert Hoover: A Public Life.

Published by visitingthepresidents

I'm a Professor of History at Central Arizona College and someone who loves history and travel; my new blog will combine those interests!

4 thoughts on “Season 1, Episode 31-Herbert Hoover and West Branch”

  1. Pingback: Episode 47: My Top Ten Presidential Birthplaces and Season 1 Recap! – Visiting the Presidents
  2. Pingback: Season 2, Episode 31-Herbert Hoover and Palo Alto – Visiting the Presidents
  4. Pingback: Season 3, Episode 31-Herbert Hoover’s Tomb – Visiting the Presidents

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