In 1928, Herbert Hoover, the Republican nominee for President, was in Cameron at the Rock Island Railroad Depot while traveling to his birthplace at West Branch, Iowa, and onward to the White House. Local bridge builder J.C. Dildine and his wife Rose, a member of the Republican State Committee, encouraged Hoover to make a rear platform talk, but after a wearisome day of travel and five speeches, he retired before the 11 p.m. train arrived. Scores of people who had waited patiently crowded around the train, and Hoover's secretary thanked them while a basket of flowers was distributed to the ladies. Hoover slept there during the journey that led from his campaign to the presidency.