There are 13 presidential libraries, commemorating the administrations of commanders-in-chief from Herbert Hoover on down. That’s a lot for even the devoted history buff to see, but here is a travel guide to at least a few of the stops:

>> Texas is home to three of the centers. The most recent was built by the foundation of George W. Bush at Southern Methodist University, which had ties to the administration; the first lady is an alumna and the vice president a trustee. It holds both presidential documents and those from his 2000 campaign and his papers as Texas governor. There are also photos, videotapes and artifacts such as foreign and domestic gifts.

>> Little Rock, Ark., where he served as the state’s governor, is the site of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum. The complex includes the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service and the Little Rock office of the Clinton Foundation. The foundation’s main headquarters, however, are in New York City, near the East River.

>> Southern California was the political base for both Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. The Reagan library is in Simi Valley, where a coming exhibit of Walt Disney artifacts reminds you of the setting.

The Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is in two locations: at Nixon’s Yorba Linda birthplace, and all the way across the country in College Park, Md. The Maryland location, at the National Archives, was actually its first home: Congress had directed the archives to hold the Watergate documents and other records out of concern they’d be destroyed. The pre-presidential collection was transferred to Yorba Linda in 2006.