Grandfather's House, also known as the Paul Curtis House, is a historic house in

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 ...

. It is claimed to be the original house named in the American poem "

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'', Volum ...

" by

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 ...

. (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 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 v ...

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 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 t ...

, which is believed to be the river referred to in the poem. The referenced woods have long since been replaced by residential housing. About 1839, Curtis greatly enlarged the house and gave it its two-story Ionic portico. In 1975, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1976,

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. ...

purchased and restored the house. In 2013 the house was sold to a developer who divided the lot the house sits on in order to build a duplex next door. In 2014 the house was again sold without its former yard to a private individual. In the 19th century, ships were built across the street. A painting hung in the house shows a ship being built, with the house across the river, and Ballou Hall (the original Tufts building) on top of the hill in the distance, with no other development in between.

Notes

References

* Grandmother: * Grandfather:

External links

"Over the River and through the Woods": Grandmother's House lyrics

* ttps://archive.today/20130426051351/http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977179413 Article about the house and song {{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Medford, Massachusetts Houses in Medford, Massachusetts Buildings at Tufts University

See also

Notes

References

External links