President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site

Anyone who knows me would probably guess that this site was not one I would normally rush off to visit. I have very little respect for its namesake and only visited here because it is one of the 424 official sites. Nonetheless, I treated my visit the same as a visit to any other NPS unit.

I did have a small adventure even trying to visit. My trips are planned six to nine months in advance. I usually start with a list of the sites I want to visit on that trip and make a grid showing the days and times that each site is open. In this case, the webpage showed that it was open every day. Wednesday was the best day based on open days at all my other planned sites. On Wednesday morning around 7:00, I checked the webpage to confirm the opening time. Most sites open at 9:00, but some open earlier. Instead, I found that it was closed on Wednesdays! Hours had apparently changed since I originally made my plans, and now I scrambled to rearrange my remaining schedule, changing hotel reservations and travel plans. I was able to return on Friday so I didn’t have to add this place to a future trip.

Tours were offered of the actual home, but I decided against taking one. For one thing, I was the only one here (having arrived shortly before it opened in order to take a photo of me standing by the sign) and did not want a “private tour”. A few other visitors arrived as I was leaving some 40 minutes. Another reason was almost nothing in the house was original. Instead, it was all simply ‘similar’ period furnishings. The house itself was nothing special and I was able to walk around the outside and look in at the first floor.

I did watch the video that runs around 25 minutes. I will admit that it was interesting, though much of what was in it – stories of childhood life and how he was raised by grandparents – undoubtedly came from Clinton himself. Those stories would need to be taken with a grain of salt considering the source. If, though, the stories of his childhood and the values he was taught by his grandparents and mother are true, one wonders where he went astray.

Following the video, I chatted with the park ranger on duty for a few minutes. He told me why this place has the longest name of any unit in the Park Service (the brown highway sign on I-30 marking the exit for the park needed five lines to fit the name). Ex-President William Jefferson Clinton himself insisted on the name. Somehow fitting of his reputation that he wanted it called “Birthplace Home” when he was not born there. It was his grandparent’s house and he moved there shortly after his birth.

Steve