Visitors stop at the Visitor Center first for an orientation from National Park staff.
NPS Photo
Start your visit to the National Historic Site at the Visitor Center.
Visitor Center
Start your visit at the Visitor Center, where you can pick up a map and guide, and get oriented to the site. Park rangers and volunteers are available to assist you and answer questions. Federal Recreational Lands Passes are on sale at the Visitor Center, which is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily.
Allow yourself at least 30 minutes in the Visitor Center. Exhibits tell about Herbert Hoover's childhood and the tallgrass prairie. The 12-minute film "Adventure and Great Undertakings: Herbert Hoover's Childhood in West Branch" is played on request. Also ask about the latest temporary exhibit.
Works by recent Artists-in-Residence are on display. An interpretive prairie garden has seasonal examples of tallgrass prairie plants.
The Visitor Center and its restrooms are handicapped-accessible. Visitors may borrow a wheelchair, scripts of audio stations, and photo albums of non-accessible buildings. The 12-minute film is open-captioned.
Take a Virtual Tour
This is a stop on the virtual tour of Herbert Hoover National Historic Site.
Did You Know?
Herbert Hoover's vice president Charles Curtis was of almost half American Indian ancestry? Curtis’ mother was one quarter Kaw, one quarter Pottawatomie and one quarter Osage.
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