Joseph Dewey House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Joseph Dewey House
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Joseph Dewey House
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Location | Westfield, Massachusetts |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | c. 1735 |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| NRHP reference No. | 01000746 |
| Added to NRHP | July 27, 2001 |
The Joseph Dewey House is a very old and special house in Westfield, Massachusetts. It was built a long, long time ago, around 1735, even before the American Revolution! Today, it's a museum where you can learn about life in the past. A local history group takes care of it. This house is so important that it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
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A Look at the Joseph Dewey House
The Joseph Dewey House stands south of downtown Westfield. You can find it on the west side of South Maple Street. This street is also known as United States Route 202.
How the House Looks
The house is made of wood and has two and a half stories. It has a pointed roof and a chimney in the middle. The outside walls are covered with wooden boards called clapboards. The front of the house has three sections. The main door is in the middle. It has fancy columns on each side and a triangle shape above it. The windows on the first floor also have special tops.
Who Was Joseph Dewey?
The house was built around 1735 for Joseph Dewey. His family had lived in the Westfield area since the mid-1600s. Joseph Dewey was a farmer in the area. He also helped with local government and community decisions.
The House Through the Years
Later in the 1700s, Joseph Dewey's grandson, Benjamin, bought the house. Benjamin added a gristmill (for grinding grain) and a sawmill (for cutting wood) to his property. He also made the house bigger and added new design details. The Dewey family owned the house until 1847.
After that, different people owned the house. The mills were sold off and later used by a paper company called Crane & Co..
In 1873, Emma Jane Turner bought the property. Her family owned it for about 100 years. In the 1970s, the house was in danger of being torn down. Luckily, the West Hampden Historical Society bought it. They moved it to its current spot and carefully fixed it up. They wanted it to look like it did in the early colonial times. Now, the society runs it as a house museum for everyone to visit.
See also
