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Flowering Goldenrod in the 81-acre tall grass prairie (NPS Photo) |
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Congress established Herbert Hoover National Historic Site to commemorate the life and times of Herbert Hoover, but this park offers more than a glimpse of human history. The NHS offers a vision into the rich natural history of this land through stewardship and interpretation of the resources. The NHS covers 186-acres of land in historic West Branch, Iowa. This landscape of ridges and swales once supported tallgrass prairie, savanna, and forest. Today the countryside consists of farms and fields, but at the NHS, visitors step back in time. Eighty-one acres of reconstructed tallgrass prairie sway in the breezes on the south and west portions of the NHS. A small, quiet stream meanders through the prairie and along side the small cottage where President Hoover was born. Herbert Hoover filled his childhood days with outdoor experiences. He swam and fished in Wapsinonoc Creek. He played in the nearby woodlot. He gathered fall nuts in the forest. These experiences gave Herbert Hoover an appreciation of nature that persisted throughout his life.
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