The Boyhood Home
A typical nineteenth century home, the Eisenhower family occupied this house from 1898 until Mrs. Eisenhower's death in 1946. Her sons gave the house, on its original site, to the Eisenhower Foundation which maintained it until it was given to the Federal Government in 1966.
David and Ida Eisenhower purchased their home on South East Fourth Street from David's brother, Abraham Lincoln Eisenhower. The family moved into the six-room home in late 1898. The title changed from Abraham to Ida on April 4, 1899 for the sum of $1,000. Ida in turn sold the house to David for $1.00 on May 18, 1908. The real estate consisted of all but two lots of the block bordered on the west by Chestnut (now Kuney) Street, the east by Olive Street, north by South East Third Street and the south by South East Fourth. The Eisenhower property had between two and one-half and three acres which contained the house, a large barn, a chicken house, a smoke house, an outhouse, an orchard, a strawberry patch, and a large garden located to the east of the house.
In 1900, Grandfather Jacob Eisenhower moved in with David, Ida and their six sons. At that time, two bedrooms and a walk-through closet were added to the east side of the house. The new south bedroom was used by David and Ida, with Jacob using the smaller north bedroom. Jacob lived with the family until his death in 1906.
The north bedroom was converted to the indoor bathroom around 1908. The last addition to the Eisenhower home consisted of a small kitchen, pantry and an enclosed back porch added in 1915. The home is furnished as it was at the time of Ida Eisenhower's death in 1946. The furnishings are original to the home although some have been moved to accommodate visitors touring the home. The wallpapers in the two parlors, dining room and hallway are identical to the papers in the home in 1946.
Ida Eisenhower was the last person to ever live in the house. It has been opened to the public since early 1947, originally as a World War II Veterans Memorial and now as the boyhood home of Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States.
A self-guided tour of the Boyhood home in Spanish is available upon request.
