Following the 2004 Kiwanis International Convention in St. Louis, Peggy, LeAnne, her friend Shelby, and I headed north to Iowa to visit the birthplace and grave of Herbert Hoover. We arrived in Iowa City at about 6:00 p.m. after a 5+ hour drive from St. Louis. To date, it is the farthest side trip I've made to see a presidential gravesite. We drove around looking for a campsite, but the only one we found didn't have showers or anything like that, so we decided to spend the night in a hotel in Iowa City (10 miles west of West Branch.) We wanted a hotel so that the girls could swim and I could watch the Red Sox game on tv.
The next morning we got up and drove to West Branch. West Branch is a quaint mid-western town. The Hoover site is in the center of town and is the major tourist attraction. The site itself was awesome and well worth the 5 hour drive. On the property is the Hoover birthplace, his school, his father's recreated blacksmith shop, a couple other building and of course the gravesite.
The gravesite is on a hill overlooking the entire complex. Also, there is the Herbert Hoover Library-Museum. The museum interprets the life and career of Hoover. I learned so much more about him in the Museum. Historians have always focused on his actions during the depression, but they forget that he fed hundreds of millions of people during World War I. I came away from the site with a greater understanding and appreciation of who Herbert Hoover was. This is a can't miss site for any presidential history buff.
From a postcard
