Surrounded by Farms

As a boy Herbert Hoover visited his relatives at their farm on the top of this hill. Isaac and Esther Miles' 100-acre property was typical of the self-sufficient farms that surrounded West Branch. In 1880 they had 73 acres under cultivation with corn, oats, rye, potatoes, and apples. Besides farming Isaac helped his brother, Benjamin, run an Indian Industrial School in West Branch. Herbert played, hunted, and fished with some other students who worked on the farm. Fishing became Hoover's favorite pastime as an adult. Hoover recalled, “With the efficient instruction on the use of bows and arrows from a real live American Indian boy...we did bring down a pigeon or a [prairie] chicken.” The barn and house are the only remaining structures that were here when Hoover was a boy.

West Branch, Iowa · United States