May 10, 2009

Westward, Ho! Herbert Hoover

Posted in Look tagged Herbert Hoover, history, Iowa, roadside attractions, travel at 2:53 pm by onetinyacorn

Herbert Hoover’s birthplace is located less than a mile off of I-80, in West Branch, Iowa, and made an interesting little stop. First I bought this sweet passport to the national parks; it contains a map of the U.S., with the national parks and historic sites marked. The passport is divided by geographic region, and describes some highlights in greater detail. It has a place for me to stamp the passport with every site I visit. Since I love a good road trip, I figured it would be a good way to plan detours or destinations when traveling.

Things I Learned About Herbert Hoover

* He was born in a two-room cottage

* He was Quaker, and his mother spoke often at Quaker meetings

* His father was a blacksmith

* He may or may not have attended the one-room schoolhouse that you see pictured below

* The statue below is the Statue of Isis, a donation from Belgium

We didn’t go into the Presidential Library (I know, I know!), but I’m pretty interested in how they treat the subject of his presidency. Sarah Vowel has a piece on This American Life about this topic here (episode 167).