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President Clinton's Birthplace Now A National Historic Site

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The National Park System has grown by one with the formal establishment of the President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site in Hope, Arkansas.

"We are very proud to include this important historical birthplace home within the National Park System and to interpret the story of President William Jefferson Clinton's early, small-town life for the American public,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday in announcing the site's addition to the park system. “President Clinton spent his first formative years in Hope and credits his family and the community with helping to shape his understanding of the world and influencing his
development into the international statesman that he has become.”

Though Congress had passed legislation creating the site and President Obama had signed the bill into law on March 30, 2009, the birthplace home could not be officially established until the property deed had been transferred to the federal government to allow for effective management by the National Park Service. The deed was transferred Tuesday.

The unassuming house on Hervey Street was home to the 42nd President of the United States for the first four years of his life. He lived with his widowed mother and maternal grandparents, who helped care for him during the times his mother was in New Orleans pursuing her nursing degree to support her young son.

The Clinton Birthplace Foundation restored the home and opened it to the public in 1997. The National Park Service will have personnel on site and will work closely with the Clinton Birthplace Foundation to transition from private to federal ownership. The official dedication of the site will happen in the spring of 2011.

The home is open to the public for tours.

Comments

Democratic presidents or their supporters seem more willing than Republicans to donate property to NPS. As I understand it, the Reagan Boyhood Home is awaiting purchase (not donation)--and the asking price is much more than the NPS appraisal. As to the comment about running into a former President in Hope, one may make a pilgrimage to Plains today, and sightings were once common in Independence.


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