Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum

Library · Iowa ·

Managed by the National Archives and Records Administration

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (National Historic Site) · Restricted Access

715 ft
Elevation
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum opened to the public on August 10,1962, Mr. Hoover's 88th birthday. In the years since, more than 2.5 million visitors have toured the museum and more than 2,000 scholars from every state in the union and a dozen foreign countries have utilized the library's seven million pages of documentary holdings. The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is one of the Presidential Libraries operated by the National Archives and Records Administration, a United States government agency.

In recent years, the Library and Museum has been transformed into a nationally recognized center for the study of twentieth-century history and the American presidency. Simultaneously, the Library had redoubled efforts to locate and collect documentation pertaining to the Hoover Era. In addition to the papers of Herbert Hoover, the manuscript holdings include those of Lewis Strauss, Gerald P. Nye, Felix Morley, Clark Mollenhoff, Robert E. Wood, Westbrook Pegler, and Laura Ingalls Wilder, among others. More than 150 collections make the Library an important center for the study of conservative journalistic thought, agricultural economics, famine relief, atomic energy, and governmental reorganization. Ten thousand square feet are devoted to seven museum galleries telling Hoover's fifty years of public service.

Getting there

The Hoover Presidential Library and Museum and the Hoover Birthplace Cottage lie within the 186-acre Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, located in West Branch, 10 miles east of Iowa City, just off Interstate 80 at Exit 254.

41.66920, -91.34780 · 41°40'9.1"N 91°20'52.1"W

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Official map for this area

Typical weather

Typically 84°F in Jul, down to 29°F in Jan.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
High °F293448627281848276634834
Low °F121627374959636052402818
Precip in1.11.42.33.95.05.54.64.33.53.02.31.6

1991–2020 averages from the nearest NOAA station, 9.1 mi away — not measured at the facility itself, and elevation can make a real difference over that distance.

Map

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Common questions about Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum

Can you reserve a site at Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum?
No. Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is not reservable through Recreation.gov, so sites are first-come, first-served or booked elsewhere.

Camping near Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum

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Recreation.gov last updated this record on 2026-02-25.

Facility information and photographs from Recreation.gov (RIDB). SpotOpened is not affiliated with Recreation.gov or any federal agency.