Edward Bellamy House facts for kids
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Edward Bellamy House
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1971 National Park Service photo
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Location | 91–93 Church Street, Chicopee, Massachusetts |
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| Built | 1852 |
| NRHP reference No. | 71000091 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | November 11, 1971 |
| Designated NHL | November 11, 1971 |
The Edward Bellamy House is a special historic building in Chicopee, Massachusetts. It is known as a National Historic Landmark. This means it's a very important place in American history. The house was home to Edward Bellamy (1850–1898) for most of his life. He was a famous journalist and writer. He wrote about a perfect world, often called a Utopia.
The house was built in 1852. Edward's father moved their family into the house soon after it was finished. Edward grew up there and came back after his studies. He also worked for a short time in New York City. He did a lot of his writing in his father's study. This was until his father passed away in 1886. After that, Edward's family took over the whole house. During these years, Bellamy wrote his most famous book, Looking Backward. This book made him very well-known. He only left Chicopee to try and get better when he was sick.
After the Bellamy family, only two other private owners lived in the house. In the 1970s, the Edward Bellamy Memorial Association bought it. They worked hard to fix it up. Today, part of the house is a historic house museum. Visitors can learn about Edward Bellamy there. The rest of the building is rented out as office space.
What the House Looks Like
The main part of the Edward Bellamy House has two floors. The front of the house faces the street. It has three windows across the front. The front door is on the right side. A small porch runs along the front of this part of the house. Above the front, there is a small round window in the roof's triangle shape.
The house has three parts added to it. A one-story section extends from the back. Another two-story part is on the right side of the main house. Its roof is at a right angle to the main house's roof. A single-story addition extends even further right from this second part. The main house is known as 91 Church Street. The second addition has its own entrance, numbered 93.
Inside the main house, stairs lead up from the front door. A living room, called a parlor, is on the left. The dining room is behind the parlor. The kitchen is in the first addition at the back. Both the parlor and dining room have fireplaces. These fireplaces have black marble decorations. Upstairs, there are three bedrooms. One bedroom has a built-in desk and bookshelves. This room might have been used as a study.
The two-story addition and the part next to it can be used as a separate living area. It has its own outside door. It also connects to the main house's entrance hall. This part of the house has been used for different things over the years.
A Look at the House's History
The Edward Bellamy House was built in 1852. Edward's parents, Rufus and Maria Bellamy, moved there when Edward was a baby. They came from another house nearby. Rufus Bellamy was a local Baptist minister. His church was also close by. The house was built on a high spot in Chicopee. From there, they could see the busy mill areas of Chicopee Falls.
Edward Bellamy was the third of four children. In 1867, he went to Union College in Schenectady, New York. From 1868 to 1869, he lived in Germany with a cousin. He worked as a journalist in New York City from 1871 to 1872.
From 1872 until he passed away, Bellamy lived in this house. He only left three times. In 1876, he traveled to the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii). He hoped the trip would help him feel better. He was often sick with a lung illness. In 1882, he married Emma Sanderson. She had lived with his family since 1874. In 1886, when they were expecting their second child, they lived next door for a short time. Edward's father, Rufus Bellamy, died in November 1886. Edward and his family quickly moved back into the house.
In 1887, Edward published Looking Backward. This utopian novel became popular very quickly. It made Bellamy famous. In 1895, Bellamy went to Denver, Colorado. He tried again to improve his health. But the treatments did not work. He came back to Chicopee in April 1896. He passed away at home one month later.
A neighbor said that Bellamy first used his father's study for writing. In his later years, Bellamy used other parts of the house for his work. He would leave piles of papers everywhere. When Bellamy helped start the Penny News, it began publishing from the house. This newspaper later became the Springfield Daily News.
The house stayed in the Bellamy family until 1905. Emma Bellamy sold it to a photographer named Hanniman. He divided the house. He used the right side for his photography business. Hanniman also made the fourth addition bigger. He replaced a barn on the property with a garage. In 1965, Joseph Lavallee bought the house. His only big change was updating the kitchen.
The Edward Bellamy House became a National Historic Landmark in 1971. It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places that year.
The Edward Bellamy Memorial Association bought the house in 1974. They did a lot of restoration work in the 1970s and 1980s. The Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities helped them. This group is now called Historic New England. The association runs part of the house as a museum. They rent out the other part to help pay for the house's upkeep.
Bellamy and Chicopee Life
Edward Bellamy lived in Chicopee his whole life. But he often kept to himself. He watched the changes happening in the growing factory areas of the town. He was a quiet person who did not like public attention. He avoided social events and speaking, even when his book Looking Backward was popular. Many people in Chicopee did not know him well.
Someone suggested that Bellamy move to Boston. This would make it easier to publish his journal, A New Nation. This journal supported the ideas from his book. But Bellamy did not want to move. He wrote that he really disliked change.
However, Bellamy did get ideas from his community for his writing. Julian West, the main character in Looking Backward, has the last name of one of Bellamy's neighbors. Parts of his historical novel The Duke of Stockbridge are set in a town like Chicopee. This book is about Shays' Rebellion from 1786–87. Characters in his short story "A Nantucket Idyll" are based on local women. A writer named Arthur Morgan noted that many of Bellamy's other stories are clearly set in towns like Chicopee Falls.
See also
In Spanish: Casa de Edward Bellamy para niños
