The birthplace park hosted the first Hoover Day celebration of Hoover's 74th birthday in 1948. The large crowds that came to celebrate the Iowan inspired Allan Hoover to further develop the site in time for his father's 80th birthday in 1954. The Herbert Hoover Birthplace Park was officially dedicated on June 30, 1952. The following year, a comfort station and picnic shelter were constructed; these have both since been demolished. In collaboration with the Hoover celebration in 1954, the Boy Scouts of America built another picnic shelter and dedicated a bronze plaque to the former President. In 1957, the Hoover family decided to recreate the Jesse Hoover blacksmith shop, which was rebuilt using wood reclaimed from an 1870 barn. The blacksmith shop is a working shop producing various iron items for sale and replacement period hardware for the NPS.