From Downey Street to Pennsylvania Avenue

From Downey Street to Pennsylvania Avenue. . Herbert Clark Hoover was born on August 10, 1874, in this two-room cottage. He spent his early boyhood years on the edge of the village Surrounded by farmland. His parents, relatives, and many neighbors were Quakers whose daily lives were centered on their face beliefs.

Herbert's mother Hulda tended to him and his siblings, Theodore and Mary. She also served as a recorded minister in the Quaker meeting. Jesse, a devoted father, worked hard as a blacksmith and businessman. Together they played major roles in forming the character of the boy who would become the 31st President of the United States.

My grandparents and parents came here in a covered wagon the most formative years of my boyhood were spent here. My roots are in the soil. , Herbert Hoover

Captions: , Tour of the interior of Hovver's birth place across the street. , The park is a commemorative landscape conceived by the Hoover family, the Hoover birthplace Society, and the National Park Service. , How has the street changed? From the bridge to a hotel on Main Street, this illustration shows the South Downey Street neighborhood as it was during Herbert Hoover's boyhood. , Birthplace Cottage Built 1871 by Herbert's father Jesse and grandfather Eli. , Jesse Hoover's Blacksmith Shop Original 1871 shop faced Downey Street , Methodist Church built 1870, razed 1913, historic house moved here , Garvin House Built 1872 , Crook's Hotel Built 1870.