Gen. Sylvanus Thayer House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Gen. Sylvanus Thayer House
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Location | 786 Washington Street, Braintree, Massachusetts |
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| Built | 1720 |
| Architectural style | New England Saltbox |
| NRHP reference No. | 74000372 |
| Added to NRHP | December 3, 1974 |
The Gen. Sylvanus Thayer House is a very old and important house in Braintree, Massachusetts. It is also known as the Sylvanus Thayer Birthplace. Today, it is a museum called the Thayer House Museum. The Braintree Historical Society takes care of it, and you can visit it all year.
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A Look Inside the Thayer House
This house has two and a half stories and is made of wood. Nathaniel Thayer built it way back in 1720. Over the years, it was made bigger in the 1760s and again in the 1800s.
Who Was Sylvanus Thayer?
General Sylvanus Thayer was born in this house in 1785. He lived there until 1793. General Thayer is famous for being the "father of West Point." West Point is a very important military academy in the United States.
The House on the Move
In 1958, a company bought the land where the house stood. Instead of tearing it down, they carefully took the house apart. Then, they moved it about a mile down Washington Street to its current spot. About 60% of the wood beams in the house are still the original ones. The other parts were replaced to look just like they did in the late 1700s. The museum shows what a middle-class farm family's home, like the Thayers', would have looked like between 1785 and 1793.
The Thayer House Museum Today
The Gen. Sylvanus Thayer House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. This means it is a special place that is important to American history. In the same year, the Braintree Historical Society built a new barn next to the house. This barn looks just like old barns from that time. Both the house and the barn have exhibits for visitors to explore.
The West Point Cannon
On the front lawn of the Thayer House, there is a cannon. This cannon was a gift from the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Restoring the Cannon
The cannon and its carriage have been fully restored. Two skilled craftspeople, a wheelwright and a blacksmith, worked together to rebuild the wheels. They did this at Colonial Williamsburg, using only tools and methods from the old days. The wheels were put back on, and the cannon was celebrated again on June 21, 2015. The craftspeople from Williamsburg were there for the special event.
See also
