Grandfather's House
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Grandfather's House
Grandfather's House, also known as the Paul Curtis House, is a historic house in Medford, Massachusetts. It is claimed to be the original house named in the American poem "Over the River and through the Wood" by Lydia Maria Child. (Although many people sing "to grandmother's house we go", the author's original words were "to grandfather's house we go".) The house, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, is also noteworthy for being the best preserved example of Greek Revival architecture in Medford, and for its association with Paul Curtis, a prominent local shipbuilder. The rear portion of the modern house was built as a small farmhouse in the early 19th century. Child recalled the farmhouse when she wrote of her childhood visits to her grandfather's house in her poem, published in 1844. The house is located near the Mystic River, which is believed to be the river referred to in the poem. The referenced woods have long since been replaced by ...
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Medford, Massachusetts
Medford is a city northwest of downtown Boston on the Mystic River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus along the Medford and Somerville border. History Indigenous history Native Americans inhabited the area that would become Medford for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas. At the time of European contact and exploration, Medford was the winter home of the Naumkeag people, who farmed corn and created fishing weirs at multiple sites along the Mystic River. Naumkeag sachem Nanepashemet was killed and buried at his fortification in present-day Medford during a war with the Tarrantines in 1619. The contact period introduced a number of European infectious diseases which would decimate native populations in virgin soil epidemics, including a smallpox epidemic which in 1633 which killed Nanepashemet's sons, sachems ...
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Over The River And Through The Wood
"The New-England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day", also known as "Over the River and Through the Woods", is a Thanksgiving (United States), Thanksgiving poem by Lydia Maria Child, originally published in 1844 in ''Flowers for Children'', Volume 2. Although many people sing "to grandmother's house we go", the author's original words were "to grandfather's house we go". Moreover, in modern American English, most people use the word ''woods'' rather than ''wood'' in reference to a forest, and sing the song accordingly. Background The poem was originally published as "The New-England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day" in Child's ''Flowers for Children''. It celebrates the author's childhood memories of visiting her grandfather's house (said to be the Paul Curtis House). Lydia Maria Child was a novelist, journalist, teacher, and poet who wrote extensively about the need to eliminate slavery. The poem was eventually set to a tune by an unknown composer. The song version is sometime ...
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Lydia Maria Child
Lydia Maria Child ( Francis; February 11, 1802October 20, 1880) was an American abolitionist, women's rights activist, Native American rights activist, novelist, journalist, and opponent of American expansionism. Her journals, both fiction and domestic manuals, reached wide audiences from the 1820s through the 1850s. At times she shocked her audience as she tried to take on issues of both male dominance and white supremacy in some of her stories. Despite these challenges, Child may be most remembered for her poem "Over the River and Through the Wood." Her grandparents' house, which she wrote about visiting, was restored by Tufts University in 1976 and stands near the Mystic River on South Street, in Medford, Massachusetts. Early life and education Lydia Maria Francis was born in Medford, Massachusetts, on February 11, 1802, to Susannah (née Rand) and Convers Francis. She went by her middle name, and pronounced it Ma-RYE-a. Her older brother, Convers Francis, was educated at H ...
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National Register Of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic value". A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred in preserving the property. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in 1966 established the National Register and the process for adding properties to it. Of the more than one and a half million properties on the National Register, 95,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts. For most of its history, the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service (NPS), an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior. Its goals are to help property owners and inte ...
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Paul Curtis (shipbuilder)
Paul Curtis (December 26, 1800 – January 10, 1873) was an American shipbuilder who built ships in Medford, Massachusetts (up the Mystic River from Boston). Background Shipbuilding was one of the two big businesses at Medford in the mid-19th century. Thatcher Magoun's shipyard, where Curtis did his apprenticeship, was the oldest (established 1802) and largest of the 10 yards, and remained so even after Thatcher's retirement in 1836. In 1845 one-quarter of all shipwrights in Massachusetts were employed in the Medford shipyards. The yards clustered along 1 mile of the Mystic River riverfront, and Curtis's yard was between South, Winthrop and Curtis Streets. He launched his ships directly across the South Street roadway. The yards drew upon the ready supply of local timber until the local woods were depleted. Ships were then built from timber cut down and floated south from the hardwood forests of New Hampshire. Each ship was built from fifteen or more species of wood carefully ...
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Mystic River
The Mystic River is a riverU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 in Massachusetts, in the United States. In Massachusett, means "large estuary," alluding to the tidal nature of the Mystic. The resemblance to the English word ' is a coincidence, which the colonists naturally followed. The Mystic River lies to the north of Boston and flows approximately parallel to the lower portions of the Charles River. Encompassing of watershed, the river flows from the Lower Mystic Lake and travels through the Boston-area communities of East Boston, Chelsea, Charlestown, Everett, Medford, Somerville, and Arlington. The river joins the Charles River to form inner Boston Harbor. Its watershed contains 44 lakes and ponds, the largest of which is Spot Pond in the Middlesex Fells, with an area of . Significant portions of the river's shores are within the Mystic River Reservation and are admini ...
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Ionic Order
The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite order. Of the three classical canonic orders, the Corinthian order has the narrowest columns, followed by the Ionic order, with the Doric order having the widest columns. The Ionic capital is characterized by the use of volutes. The Ionic columns normally stand on a base which separates the shaft of the column from the stylobate or platform while the cap is usually enriched with egg-and-dart. The ancient architect and architectural historian Vitruvius associates the Ionic with feminine proportions (the Doric representing the masculine). Description Capital The major features of the Ionic order are the volutes of its capital, which have been the subject of much theoretical and practical discourse, based on a brief and obscure passage i ...
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Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. Tufts remained a small New England liberal arts college until the 1970s, when it transformed into a large research university offering several doctorates;Its corporate name is still "The Trustees of Tufts College" it is classified as a "Research I university", denoting the highest level of research activity. Tufts is a member of the Association of American Universities, a selective group of 64 leading research universities in North America. The university is known for its internationalism, study abroad programs, and promoting active citizenship and public service across all disciplines. Tufts offers over 90 undergraduate and 160 graduate programs across ten schools in the greater Boston area and Talloires, France.
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National Register Of Historic Places Listings In Medford, Massachusetts
This is a list of places and properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Medford, Massachusetts. __TOC__ Current listings References {{DEFAULTSORT:National Register Of Historic Places Listings In Medford, Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Medford, Massachusetts Medford Medford, Massachusetts Medford is a city northwest of downtown Boston on the Mystic River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus alo ... * ...
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National Register Of Historic Places Listings In Middlesex County, Massachusetts
This is a listing of places in Middlesex County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. With more than 1,300 listings, the county has more listings than any other county in the United States. __NOTOC__ Cities and towns listed separately The following Middlesex County cities and towns have large numbers of sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Lists of their sites are on separate pages, linked below. Other municipalities Former listings References {{Middlesex County, Massachusetts Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of Londo ...
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Houses On The National Register Of Historic Places In Medford, Massachusetts
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.Schoenauer, Norbert (2000). ''6,000 Years of Housing'' (rev. ed.) (New York: W.W. Norton & Company). Houses use a range of different roofing systems to keep precipitation such as rain from getting into the dwelling space. Houses may have doors or locks to secure the dwelling space and protect its inhabitants and contents from burglars or other trespassers. Most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. A house may have a separate dining room, or the eating area may be integrated into another room. Some large houses in North America have a recreation room. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as c ...
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Houses In Medford, Massachusetts
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.Schoenauer, Norbert (2000). ''6,000 Years of Housing'' (rev. ed.) (New York: W.W. Norton & Company). Houses use a range of different roofing systems to keep precipitation such as rain from getting into the dwelling space. Houses may have doors or locks to secure the dwelling space and protect its inhabitants and contents from burglars or other trespassers. Most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. A house may have a separate dining room, or the eating area may be integrated into another room. Some large houses in North America have a recreation room. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as c ...
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