The Joshua Hempsted House 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 11 Hempstead Street in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decade ...

. Built about 1678 and altered several times during the 18th century, it is one of the state's oldest surviving buildings, and provides a virtual catalog of early construction methods due to its state of preservation. The house was acquired by

Connecticut Landmarks Connecticut Landmarks is a non-profit organization that has restored and operates significant historic house museums in Connecticut. Headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, the organization was founded in 1936 as the Antiquarian & Landmarks Societ ...

in 1937, which operates it and the adjacent 1759 Nathaniel Hempstead House as a historic house museum complex known as the Hempsted Houses. The houses have been restored to reflect a late 17th to mid 18th-century appearance, and 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 1970.

Description and history

The Hempsted House is located west of downtown New London, on the east side of Hempstead Street between Hope and Truman Streets. It is a -story wood-frame structure, with a side-gable roof that has two front-facing gables. The left gable, in an unusual departure for houses of its age, projects forward of the main block, providing an enclosed vestibule on the first floor. Window openings are generally narrow, and filled with diamond-pane casement windows. The interior has exposed framing members that show the building's great age. The oldest portion of the house was three bays wide, and was a typical one-room structure with a chimney on one end. Although there is some disagreement by architectural historians, it was probably built c. 1678 by Joshua Hempstead, the father of local diarist Joshua Hempsted. It is one of Connecticut's oldest surviving buildings, and has long been recognized for its architectural and historical significance, having been studied by Norman Isham and Frederick Kelly, prominent early architectural historians of the region. The house supposedly escaped destruction during the 1780

Battle of Groton Heights The Battle of Groton Heights (also known as the Battle of Fort Griswold, and occasionally called the Fort Griswold massacre) was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on September 6, 1781 between a small Connecticut militia force le ...

, in which much of New London was destroyed, because the Hempsteads had prepared a large family reunion meal, which was appropriated by the raiding British forces. It was used as a safe house as part of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

. It remained in the Hempstead family until 1937, when it was acquired by the organization now known as Connecticut Landmarks.

References

External links

Hempstead houses at Connecticut Landmarks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hempstead, Joshua, House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Houses completed in 1678 Hempsted, Joshua House Museums in New London County, Connecticut Houses in New London, Connecticut Tourist attractions in New London, Connecticut Connecticut Landmarks National Register of Historic Places in New London County, Connecticut Historic district contributing properties in Connecticut 1678 establishments in Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References

External links