Eisenhower Was Born in a Railroad Family's Denison Rental

The frame house on South Lamar Avenue is a long way from a presidential mansion. It was a simple rental near the M-K-T railroad yards, where David Eisenhower cleaned steam engines. Dwight David Eisenhower was born there on October 14, 1890, the first U.S. president born in Texas.

Denison made the house part of its own memory while Eisenhower was still alive. The community acquired it in 1946, the year he returned as a hometown hero. It became a state park in 1958 while he was president, and he returned again in 1965 to dedicate an auditorium at Denison High School.

The Texas Historical Commission now furnishes the original 1870s house to show working-class life in 1890. The rooms keep the scale of the story honest: before the general and president, there was a railroad family's rented home near the yards.