Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site |
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The Longfellow House
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 Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
Location in Massachusetts
Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
Location in the United States
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| Location | Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA |
| Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
| Established | October 9, 1972 |
| Visitors | 50,784 (in 2015) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site |
The Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site is a famous historic house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is also known as the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House. This special place was the home of the well-known American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for nearly 50 years. Before that, it served as the headquarters for General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1776).
The house was built in 1759 for John Vassall. He was loyal to the King of England, so he left Cambridge when the American Revolution began. George Washington moved into the house on July 16, 1775. He used it as his main base during the Siege of Boston until April 4, 1776.
Later, Andrew Craigie, who was a chief pharmacist for Washington's army, bought the house in 1791. He added a major new part to it. After Craigie died in 1819, his wife Elizabeth rented out rooms to make money. One of her renters was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He loved the house so much that his father-in-law bought it for him as a wedding gift in 1843. Longfellow lived there until he died in 1882.
The Longfellow family lived in the house for many years. In 1913, they created a trust to protect it. In 1972, the family gave the house and all its furniture to the National Park Service. Today, it is open to the public during certain times of the year. It is a great example of the Georgian architecture style from the mid-1700s.
Contents
History of the House
Early Days of the House
The house was built in 1759 for John Vassall. He was a Loyalist, meaning he supported the King of England during the American Revolution. John Vassall inherited the land in Cambridge when he was 21. He tore down an older building and built this new mansion as his summer home. He lived there with his wife Elizabeth and their children until 1774.
Because Vassall was loyal to the King, American Patriots took his house and other properties in September 1774. This happened just before the American Revolutionary War started. Vassall fled to Boston and later moved to England, where he died.
After the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the house was used as a temporary hospital. In June 1775, Colonel John Glover and his soldiers stayed there. General George Washington, who led the new Continental Army, first used a smaller house at Harvard University. But he needed more space for his team. So, he moved into the Vassall House on July 16, 1775. He used it as his headquarters until April 4, 1776. From the house, he had a good view of the Charles River, which was helpful during the Siege of Boston.
Many important people visited Washington at the house. These included John Adams, Abigail Adams, Benedict Arnold, Henry Knox, and Nathanael Greene. It was also here that Washington met Phillis Wheatley, the first published African-American poet. He wrote to her, "If you should ever come to Cambridge, I shall be happy to see a person so favored by the Muses."
Martha Washington joined her husband in December 1775 and stayed until March 1776. She brought family members and servants, including some enslaved people. On Twelfth Night in January 1776, the Washingtons celebrated their wedding anniversary in the house. Martha Washington wrote to a friend that they often heard "cannon and shells from Boston and Bunkers Hill." The family often hosted guests and bought a lot of food and drinks, including 217 bottles of Madeira wine in just two weeks!
Washington left the house in April 1776. After him, Nathaniel Tracy owned the house from 1781 to 1786. He then sold it to Thomas Russell, a rich merchant from Boston, who lived there until 1791.
The Craigie Family and Renters
Andrew Craigie, the first chief pharmacist for the American army, bought the house in 1791. He even hosted Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the father of Queen Victoria, in the ballroom. Craigie married Elizabeth, who was 17 years younger than him.
Craigie spent too much money trying to fix up the house. When he died in 1819, he left Elizabeth in great debt. To support herself, she started renting rooms to people, often those connected to nearby Harvard University.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow moved to Cambridge in the summer of 1837 to work as a professor at Harvard. He rented rooms on the second floor of the house. Elizabeth Craigie first thought he was a student and didn't want to rent to him. But Longfellow convinced her he was a professor and the author of a book she was reading!
Longfellow's new landlady, Elizabeth Craigie, was known for being a bit unusual. She often wore a turban. Longfellow once wrote about how she would let worms crawl over her turban, saying they had "as good a right to live as we." He wrote to his father that his new rooms were "above all praise." The rooms he rented were the same ones George Washington had used as his personal chambers. Longfellow wrote to a friend, "I live in a great house which looks like an Italian villa: have two large rooms opening into each other. They were once Gen. Washington's chambers."
Some of Longfellow's first major works written in the house were Hyperion and Voices of the Night, which included "A Psalm of Life". These early years in the house were the true start of Longfellow's writing career. Elizabeth Craigie died in 1841.
The Longfellow Family Home
After Elizabeth Craigie died, Joseph Emerson Worcester rented the property. He then rented the eastern half to Longfellow. In 1843, Nathan Appleton bought the house for $10,000. Longfellow married Appleton's daughter, Frances, so Appleton gave them the house as a wedding gift. Longfellow's friend, George Washington Greene, reminded them "how noble an inheritance this is — where Washington dwelt in every room." Longfellow was very proud of the house's connection to Washington.
Longfellow lived in the house for the next 40 years. He wrote many of his most famous poems there, like "Paul Revere's Ride" and "The Village Blacksmith". He also wrote longer works such as Evangeline, The Song of Hiawatha, and The Courtship of Miles Standish. While living here, he published 11 poetry collections, two novels, three epic poems, and several plays. He also translated Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. He and his wife often called it "Craigie House" or "Craigie Castle."
Longfellow created a beautiful formal garden. His wife, Frances, decorated the inside of the house. They added central heating in 1850 and gaslight in 1853. The family often hosted famous artists, writers, politicians, and other important people. Visitors included Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, and singer Jenny Lind. Even Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil visited the house. The couple raised their three daughters and two sons in the home.
Longfellow often wrote in his first-floor study, which used to be Washington's office. He was surrounded by portraits of his friends. He would write at his desk or in an armchair by the fireplace. His second wife, Fanny, sadly died in the home in July 1861. Her dress accidentally caught fire. Longfellow tried to put out the flames, but he was badly burned on his face. He then grew a beard to hide the scars.
Preserving This Historic Place
Longfellow died in 1882. His daughter Alice Mary Longfellow was the last of his children to live in the house. In 1913, the Longfellow children created the Longfellow House Trust. Their goal was to protect the home and its view of the Charles River. They wanted to keep the house as a memorial to both Longfellow and Washington. They also wanted to show it as a great example of Georgian architecture.
The house became famous even during Longfellow's lifetime. Pictures of it often appeared with his poems. After his death, its fame grew even more. By the 1890s, companies were making postcards of the house for teachers to give to students.
In 1962, the trust successfully worked to make the house a national historic landmark. In 1972, the Trust gave the property to the National Park Service. It became the Longfellow National Historic Site and opened to the public as a museum. Inside, you can see many of the original 19th-century furnishings, artwork, and over 10,000 books that Longfellow owned. Everything on display belonged to the Longfellow family. On December 22, 2010, the site was renamed Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site. This was done to make sure people remembered its important connection to George Washington.
The site also has about 750,000 original documents about the people who lived in the home. These old papers are available for researchers to study by appointment.
Across the street from the Longfellow House is Longfellow Park. In the park, there is a memorial created by sculptor Daniel Chester French in 1914. It has a bust of the poet and carvings by Henry Bacon. These carvings show famous characters from Longfellow's poems, like Miles Standish, the village blacksmith, and Evangeline.
House Design and Gardens
The original house, built in 1759, is in the Georgian architecture style. It has large columns called pilasters that frame the main entrance and the two side wings. This design showed how wealthy and important John Vassall's family was. In 1791, Andrew Craigie added two side porches and a two-story back section. He also made the library bigger, turning it into a large ballroom with its own entrance. When the Longfellow family lived there, they made very few changes to the building's structure. Frances Longfellow wrote that they didn't want to change anything about the "old countenance which Washington has rendered sacred."
The Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site is also famous for its garden. It is located on the northeast side of the property. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow helped create the first garden shortly after his wedding. It was shaped like a lyre, a musical instrument. In 1845, he started making the garden even better. He brought trees from England with help from Asa Gray. These trees included evergreens like a cedar of Lebanon and pines from the Himalayas and Norway.
The lyre shape was not very practical, so a new design was made in 1847 with help from Richard Dolben. The new garden was a square around a circle, which was divided into four tear-shaped garden beds. These beds were outlined by trimmed boxwood plants. Mrs. Longfellow called the shape a "Persian rug."
After her father died in 1882, Alice Longfellow hired two of America's first female landscape architects, Martha Brookes Hutcheson and Ellen Biddle Shipman. They redesigned the formal garden in the Colonial Revival style. The garden was recently restored by a group called Friends of the Longfellow House. They finished the last part of the reconstruction, a historic pergola, in 2008.
Other Longfellow Houses
For a while, Longfellow's home was one of the most photographed and recognized houses in the United States. In the early 1900s, Sears, Roebuck and Company even sold smaller blueprints of the house. This meant anyone could build their own version of Longfellow's home.
Several copies of Longfellow's house exist across the United States. One copy, simply called Longfellow House, is in Minneapolis. It was built by a businessman named Robert "Fish" Jones. Today, it is an information center for the Minneapolis Park System. A full-size copy of the house was built in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, around 1900. This building is the only full-size copy that still looks like the original historic home. There is also a copy in Aberdeen, South Dakota, on Main Street.
