The Pierce House is a rare 17th-century (

First Period First Period is an American architecture style in the time period between approximately 1626 and 1725, used by British colonists during the earliest English settlements in United States, particularly in Massachusetts and Virginia and later in ...

) house at 24 Oakton Avenue in the Dorchester neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. Built c. 1683, It documents period building practices, and the tastes and housing needs of one family, the Pierces, over more than three centuries. At different times, family members expanded and adapted their dwelling to meet new demands for space, function, comfort, privacy, and cleanliness. The history of the Pierce family, ten generations of whom lived in the Pierce House, highlights important aspects of social history, community history, and

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

history. On the most direct level it tells the story of a New England family over the course of three hundred and fifty years. The Pierces, like other families of their class, worked hard to provide for themselves and their children and to preserve their legacy; to do so they continually had to adapt to changing circumstances. They took part in both local and national events; during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, for example, Colonel Samuel Pierce (1736–1815), participated in the fortification of

Dorchester Heights Dorchester Heights is the central area of South Boston. It is the highest area in the neighborhood and commands a view of both Boston Harbor and downtown. History Dorchester is remembered in American history for an action in the American Rev ...

. It 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 1974. The house is now owned by

Historic New England Historic New England, previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), is a charitable, non-profit, historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is focused on New England ...

, which operates it as a historic house museum, with school and youth programs.

References

External links

Historic New England: Pierce House
Houses completed in 1683 Historic house museums in Massachusetts Museums in Boston Houses in Boston Dorchester, Boston National Register of Historic Places in Boston Historic New England 1683 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Suffolk County, Massachusetts Saltbox architecture in Massachusetts {{Boston-struct-stub

See also

References

External links