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The Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home is the house located at 816 S. Hennepin Ave.,
Dixon, Illinois Dixon is a city and the county seat of Lee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,733 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,941 in 2000. The city is named after founder John Dixon, who operated a rope ferry service across the R ...
, in which the 40th President of the United States
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
lived as a youth beginning in 1920. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The home is open to visitors from April to October.


History


General

The Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home was constructed in
Dixon, Illinois Dixon is a city and the county seat of Lee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,733 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,941 in 2000. The city is named after founder John Dixon, who operated a rope ferry service across the R ...
, in 1891; its design is fairly typical of American houses during the time period. The house's original owners were William C. and Susan Thompson; it was eventually sold, in 1917. The home's most significant period was between 1920 and 1923 and between 1975 and 1977 when it changed hands twice. In August 1980 a group of local residents, led by Lynn Knights of Dixon, Illinois, purchased the home. The group was then known as the Reagan Home Preservation and Restoration Committee.Redebaugh, Caroline.
Ronald Reagan's Boyhood Home
, National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form, April 24, 1981, HAARGIS Database, '' Illinois Historic Preservation Agency'', accessed January 22, 2009.


National Historic Site designation

The home is open to the public and operated by Young America's Foundation. On February 6, 2002, (Public Law 107-137), the United States Secretary of the Interior was authorized to purchase the property from the foundation and establish a U.S. National Historic SiteNot to be confused with the home's 1982 listing on the
U.S. National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service (NPS).Public Law 137-107
, February 6, 2002, ''
107th United States Congress The 107th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3 ...
'', accessed January 20, 2009.
Reagan turns 91
, ''
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
'', February 6, 2002, accessed January 23, 2009.
The law specifies that the site will not be designated as the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site until after the Department of the Interior acquires the property. The foundation made a point of pride in receiving no funding from the state or federal government, in keeping with Reagan's motto that "government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem." However, visits dwindled to 5,000 per year by 2019, and the house increasingly fell into disrepair. In 2018, the foundation's perilous finances forced it to offer to sell the home to the National Park Service, which manages 16 other presidential homes. However, in December 2020, Young America's Foundation stepped in to protect the property and preserve the ideas and principles President Reagan developed while there for future generations, just as YAF has preserved and protected Ronald Reagan’s beloved Rancho del Cielo in Santa Barbara, California.


Architecture and design

The 1891 house is cast in the popular Queen Anne style.Property Information Report - Reagan, Ronald, Boyhood Home
, HAARGIS Database, '' Illinois Historic Preservation Agency'', accessed January 22, 2009.
The two-storey house rests on a stone foundation and is topped with a
gable roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof ca ...
which was originally covered with cedar shingles.


Historic significance


National Register significance

The Reagan Boyhood Home is most significant as the home of 40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his family from late 1920 until 1923. Reagan was nine years old at the time and in grade school. Though the family moved from the house they remained in Dixon throughout the former president's formative years. For its association with Reagan and significance in the area of politics and government the building was listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNot to be confused with the U.S. National Historic Site designation. on March 26, 1982.


Reagan at the house

According to the National Register of Historic Places documentation,
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
stated that the house was associated with important events of his childhood. However, his brother
Neil Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. A ...
was quoted as saying that the house designated the Boyhood Home is the "wrong one for Ronald's principal memories of the town (Dixon)."Cannon, Lou. ''President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime'',
Google Books
, PublicAffairs, 2000, p. 178, ().
One author, James E. Combs, called Dixon's claim that the "Boyhood Home" is the actual boyhood home of Ronald Reagan a bit bogus considering the Reagans moved often and only lived in the house for about two years.Combs, James E. ''Phony Culture: Confidence and Malaise in Contemporary America'',
Google Books
, Popular Press, 1994, p. 96, ().
While they lived in the home the Reagan brothers shared a second-floor bedroom, despite the house having three bedrooms. Ronald's mother used the third as a work room. The lone outbuilding on the property was used by the brothers for such activities as raising rabbits. In the house's side yard Ronald and his brother would participate in pick-up
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
games.Angelo, Bonnie. ''First Mothers: The Women Who Shaped the Presidents'',
Google Books
, HarperCollins, 2001, p. 312, ().


See also

*
Birthplace of Ronald Reagan The Birthplace of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Graham Building, is located in an apartment on the second floor of a late 19th-century commercial building in Tampico, Illinois, United States. The building was built in 1896, and housed a tavern f ...
*
H. C. Pitney Variety Store Building The H.C. Pitney Variety Store Building is a commercial building in downtown Tampico, Illinois, United States, constructed in 1900. The building is part of a two-story commercial block along Main Street. Between 1919 and 1920, H.C. Pitney operated ...
*
Tampico Main Street Historic District The Main Street Historic District in Tampico, Illinois, United States is a historic district notable as home to the birthplace of Ronald Reagan. The district includes the late 19th century collection of buildings that comprise Tampico's centra ...
*
Ronald Reagan Trail The Ronald Reagan Trail is a collection of highways in central Illinois that connect villages and cities that were of importance to former United States President Ronald Reagan. The trail was established in 1999 by the Illinois General Assembly, f ...


References


Further reading

*Misner, Marlin E. ''History of the Reagan Home: The Boyhood Home in Dixon, Illinois'', S.N., 2005, ().


External links


Reagan Boyhood Home
official site, accessed June 26, 2012.
House Report 107-268 - Authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to Establish the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site, and for Other Purposes
, (includes link to full information on H.R. 400),
THOMAS.gov Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...
, accessed January 23, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Reagan, Ronald, Boyhood Home Dixon, Illinois Ronald Reagan Trail Historic house museums in Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Lee County, Illinois Presidential museums in Illinois Museums in Lee County, Illinois Presidential homes in the United States Houses completed in 1891 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Houses in Lee County, Illinois 1891 establishments in Illinois