News Release

National Park Service Completes George W. Bush Childhood Home Special Resource Study

George and Barbara Bush with their children, George and Robin, have their photographs taken at the rodeo grounds in Midland, TX, October 1950.

George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum (photo by Vogue Pictures)

News Release Date: April 5, 2023

Contact: [e-mail]

WASHINGTON - The National Park Service (NPS) today transmitted the George W. Bush Childhood Home Special Resource Study (SRS) to Congress. The study evaluated a variety of opportunities for the preservation, protection, and interpretation of the Bushes’ family home in Midland, Texas and the formative years George W. Bush spent there but concluded that the 43rd president’s home likely does not have a need for direct NPS management. 

The George W. Bush Childhood Home, currently managed by the state of Texas as the Bush Family Home State Historic Site, is a Texas Historical Landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Bush family, including both former presidents, First Lady Barbara Bush, and Governor Jeb Bush, lived in the home from November 1951 through November 1955. The nonprofit George W. Bush Childhood Home, Inc. (GWBCH Inc.) purchased the property in 2001 and restored it to its 1955 appearance. It now manages the property as a historic house museum interpreting the Bush Family’s connections to Midland. 

Special Resource Studies are congressionally directed and evaluate a site according to four stablished criteria: 1) national significance, 2) suitability, 3) feasibility, and 4) the need for NPS management. All four criteria of the SRS must have positive findings for the special resource study to recommend a site as eligible for inclusion in the National Park System. The George W. Bush Childhood Home met SRS criteria for national significance, suitability, and feasibility. However, the study concludes that the site likely does not meet the need for direct NPS management. 

The study found that the George W. Bush Childhood Home would benefit from additional support, technical expertise, and longevity provided by a larger preservation organization or government entity. It recommends that the Texas Historical Commission assume the lead management role due to its stated interest in acquiring the site and managing it as a State historic site. NPS affiliated area status may be appropriate if the Texas Historical Commission or another future management entity can manage the site’s resources to NPS management standards and can demonstrate the need for additional NPS recognition or technical assistance. Affiliated areas are linked in importance and purpose to the larger system, but are not federally owned or directly managed by the National Park Service. 

Additions to the National Park System are designated by acts of Congress or through presidential proclamation. An SRS serves as one reference for consideration in the potential designation of an area to be added to the National Park System. Because an SRS is not a decision-making document, it does not identify a preferred course of action.  

The study was authorized in 2019 through the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (Public Law 116-9). 

More information about the George W. Bush Childhood Home special resource study is available at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectID=94577

www.nps.gov

About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 424 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. 

This release has been edited to clarify that the site in question is a Texas state historic site known as the Bush Family Home State Historic Site.