The Strong House is a historic house at 67 Amity Street in
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst () is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (althoug ...
. Built about 1744, it is one of Amherst's oldest surviving houses, and a fine example of mid-18th century Connecticut River Valley architecture. It was given to the Amherst Historical Society in 1916.
It currently houses the Amherst History Museum.
The house 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 1984,
and included in the
Amherst Central Business District
The Amherst Central Business District is a historic district encompassing the heart of downtown Amherst, Massachusetts. Centered on the northern section of the long town common, the area has been the civic and commercial heart of the town sinc ...
in 1991.
Description and history
The Strong House is located just west of the commercial center of Amherst, set well back from the north side of Amity Street at Prospect Street. It is a -story wood-frame structure, with a gambrel roof and clapboarded exterior. Its main facade is five bays wide, with a center entrance sheltered by a gabled portico. The first-floor windows are capped by projecting cornices, and the steep roof face is pierced by two gabled dormers. Although it was first built about 1744, much of its present appearance dates to late 18th-century alterations.
[
It was built about 1744 by Nehemiah Strong, only six years after formal settlement of Amherst began. Originally a -story ]saltbox
A saltbox house is a gable-roofed residential structure that is typically two stories in the front and one in the rear. It is a traditional New England style of home, originally timber framed, which takes its name from its resemblance to a woode ...
in configuration, it was enlarged by Strong's son Simeon in the 1790s, when the gambrel roof and front portico were added. Simeon Strong
Simeon Strong (1736–1805) was a justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Biography
Simeon Strong was the son of Nehemiah Strong and Hannah French. He was born in Amherst, Province of Massachusetts on March 6, 1736, and graduated f ...
was a prominent local lawyer, who served in a number of town posts and also represented it in the state legislature before being appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. His son and grandson, who continued ownership of the property, were also prominent in local fairs. The house was sold out of the family in 1845, and has served as a museum since its acquisition by the historical society in 1916.[
]
See also
*
References
External links
Amherst Historical Society
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Houses in Hampshire County, Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Amherst, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Hampshire County, Massachusetts
Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts
Museums in Hampshire County, Massachusetts
Historic house museums in Massachusetts
Houses completed in 1744
Georgian architecture in Massachusetts