Wadsworth-Longfellow House

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The Wadsworth-Longfellow House is a historic house now open as a museum. It is located at 489 Congress Street in Portland, Maine, and is operated by the Maine Historical Society. The house is open daily to public from May through October (half days on Sundays). An admission fee is charged.

[edit] History

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.

Revolutionary War General Peleg Wadsworth built the house in 1785-1786 as a two-story structure with a pitched roof. It was the first wholly brick dwelling in Portland. Wadsworth raised ten children in the house 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 in 1807. He later moved with his parents to the house when he was less than a year old, and grew up there. The Longfellows added today's third story in 1815.

Anne Longfellow Pierce (1810-1901) was the last family member to live in the house. Her will stipulated that the house, lot, and many furnishings be given to the Maine Historical Society upon her death.