Gerald Ford Birthsite and Gardens, Nebraska

Gerald Ford, who would become the 38^th president of the USA, was born in 1913, at 3202 Woolworth Avenue, in Omaha, Nebraska. The house, which is no longer there, belonged to his paternal grandfather, who was a wealthy wool merchant. When Ford became president in 1974, a local businessman bought the lot in order to make a memorial for the birthplace of the 38th president. He raised money, hired an architect, and even got Ford to visit the site while it was under construction (he was running for office) in 1976. Ford visited the site again the next year to dedicate it when it opened as the Gerald Ford Birthsite and Gardens. The memorial site is open and unmanned. It has a kiosk with displays behind glass that show scenes from Ford’s life and presidency, with a push-button activated narration, read by Ford himself. It is located next to the offices of the state historical society’s Gerald Ford Conservation Center, named in his honor, but otherwise unrelated.