The Clara Barton Homestead, also known as the Clara Barton Birthplace Museum, is a
historic house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...
at 60 Clara Barton Road in
Oxford, Massachusetts. The museum celebrates the life and activities of
Clara Barton
Clarissa Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, a teacher, and a patent clerk. Since nursing education was not then very ...
(1821-1912), founder of the
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the des ...
. The property 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 ...
in 1977.
The museum is open seasonally, or by appointment. It has been restored to the period when Barton lived there.
Description and history
The Clara Barton Homestead is located in northern Oxford, on the grounds of the
Barton Center for Diabetes Education at the northeast corner of Clara Barton and Ennis Roads. It is a -story Cape style wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof, central chimney, and clapboarded exterior. Its main facade is five bays wide, with sash windows arranged symmetrically around the center entrance. The entrance is simply framed, with a transom window above. A single-story ell extends to the right at a setback, with a porch at the joining corner. A 19th-century barn stands to the right of the house.
The house was built in 1818 by Stephen Barton, and was where Clara Barton was born in 1821. Barton lived here until 1853.
In 1921, it was purchased by the Unitarian-Universalist Federation of Women, who established it as a museum in her honor. The surrounding property has since been developed as part of the Barton Center, which provides a summer camp environment for children with diabetes.
See also
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Worcester County, Massachusetts
References
External links
Museum web site
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Worcester County, Massachusetts
Houses completed in 1818
Oxford, Massachusetts
Historic house museums in Massachusetts
Museums in Worcester County, Massachusetts
Barton, Clara
Women's museums in the United States
Barton, Clara
Barton, Clara
Homestead