Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Portland, ME
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 43° 39.413 W 070° 15.598
19T E 398402 N 4834535
"Built by Peleg Wadsworth in 1785-1786, this is the boyhood home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow" - Maine Historical Society
Waymark Code: WMK88M
Location: Maine, United States
Date Posted: 02/27/2014
Views: 8
County of home: Cumberland County
Location of home: 485 Congress St., Portland
"Within its walls lived three generations of one remarkable family that made significant contributions to the political, literary, and cultural life of New England and the United States. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882), grew up in the house and went on to become one of the most famous men of his time.
General Peleg Wadsworth, built the house in 1785–1786, and the last person to live there was Anne Longfellow Pierce, Henry's younger sister. Mrs. Pierce, widowed at an early age, lived in the house until her death in 1901. At that time, in accordance with a deed she executed in 1895, the house passed to the Maine Historical Society to be preserved as a memorial to her famous brother and their family.
Virtually all of the household items and artifacts are original to the Wadsworth and Longfellow families.
Furnishings from the three generations illustrate changes in style, technology, and attitude over the 19th century. Peleg and Elizabeth Wadsworth raised ten children in the house before retiring to the family farm in Hiram, Maine, in 1807." - Maine Historical Society
"The house has both historical and literary importance, as it is both the oldest standing structure on the Portland peninsula and the childhood home of famous American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882).
"Revolutionary War General Peleg Wadsworth built the house in 1785–1786, the first wholly brick dwelling in Portland. Wadsworth raised ten children in the two-story structure with a pitched roof before retiring to the family farm in Hiram, Maine, in 1807. His daughter Zilpah and her husband Stephen Longfellow IV were married in the house.
"Their son, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was born nearby at the home of an aunt, Stephen's sister, on February 27, 1807. The home was a three-story Federal architecture-style home at the corner of Fore and Hancock Streets. Young Longfellow did not move with his parents to the Wadsworth-Longfellow House until he was eight months old, but spent the next 35 years there. The Longfellows added today's third story in 1815." - Wikipedia