Ronald Reagan childhood home in Dixon IL

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The Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home is the house in which Ronald Reagan lived as a youth beginning in 1920. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The 1891 house is cast in the popular Queen Anne style. The two-story house rests on a stone foundation and is topped with a gable roof which was originally covered with cedar shingles.

According to the National Register of Historic Places documentation, Ronald Reagan stated that the house was associated with important events of his childhood. However, his brother Neil was quoted as saying that the house designated the Boyhood Home is the "wrong one for Ronald's principal memories of the town (Dixon)." 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.

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 games.

LARRY PERSONAL NOTE: I DROVE THROUGH DIXON IN 1980 BUT WAS NOT YET A PHOTOGRAPHER OF THINGS US PRESIDENTIAL

Ronald Reagan childhood home  1 of 1 (#reagan_home_dixon_il)

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