Elijah Burt House

Last updated
Elijah Burt House
EastLongmeadowMA ElijahBurtHouse.jpg
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location201 Chestnut St., East Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°3′15″N72°30′54″W / 42.05417°N 72.51500°W / 42.05417; -72.51500 Coordinates: 42°3′15″N72°30′54″W / 42.05417°N 72.51500°W / 42.05417; -72.51500
Area2.3 acres (0.93 ha)
Built1720 (1720)
Architectural styleGeorgian
NRHP reference No. 76000240 [1]
Added to NRHPApril 26, 1976

The Elijah Burt House is a historic house at 201 Chestnut Street in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Built sometime between 1720 and 1740, it is believed to be the oldest surviving building in the town, and a station on the Underground Railroad. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. [1]

Contents

Description and history

The Elijah Burt House is located south of the center of East Longmeadow, on the north side of Chestnut Street roughly midway between Shaker Road and Prospect Street. It is a 2+12-story wood-frame structure, five bays wide, with a side-gable roof, clapboard siding, and a central chimney. The main entrance is at the center of the front facade, flanked by pilasters, and topped by a corniced entablature. [2] Its interior retains original wide pine floors, fireplaces with beehive ovens, and gunstock posts in the corners. Part of the interior includes a secret passage that may have been used to shelter escaping slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. [3]

The house was built sometime between 1720 and 1740, and is believed to be the oldest house in East Longmeadow. It served in early days as a stop on stagecoach routes. In the years before the Civil War, an abolitionist owner is said to have harbored fugitive slaves in the basement, with a tunnel providing an escape into nearby woods. [3] The house underwent a Victorian update in the late 19th century, with a Queen Anne style porch with turned posts; most of these changes were reversed during 20th-century work to restore its 18th-century appearance. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston African American National Historic Site</span> National Historic Site of the United States

The Boston African American National Historic Site, in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts's Beacon Hill neighborhood, interprets 15 pre-Civil War structures relating to the history of Boston's 19th-century African-American community, connected by the Black Heritage Trail. These include the 1806 African Meeting House, the oldest standing black church in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Levi Coffin House</span> Historic house in Indiana, United States

The Coffin House is a National Historic Landmark located in the present-day town of Fountain City in Wayne County, Indiana. The two-story, eight room, brick home was constructed circa 1838–39 in the Federal style. The Coffin home became known as the "Grand Central Station" of the Underground Railroad because of its location where three of the escape routes to the North converged and the number of fleeing slaves who passed through it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owen Lovejoy House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Owen Lovejoy House is a historic house museum on East Peru Street in Princeton, Illinois. Built in 1838, it was for many years home to Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864), a prominent abolitionist and congressman. Lovejoy was an open operator of shelter and support on the Underground Railroad, and his house contains a concealed compartment in which escaped slaves could be hidden. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1997. It is open seasonally or by appointment for tours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendrick I. Lott House</span> Historic house in Brooklyn, New York

The Hendrick I. Lott House is a historic home located at 1940 East 36th Street between Fillmore Avenue and Avenue S, in Marine Park, Brooklyn, New York City. Lott House, one of the oldest Dutch Colonial houses in Brooklyn, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a New York City designated landmark. The house remains structurally sound and virtually unchanged from the time Hendrick Lott constructed it in 1800, incorporating a section of the 1720 original homestead built by his grandfather, Johannes Lott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hon. Bazaleel Taft House</span> United States historic place

The Hon. Bazaleel Taft House is a historic house at 240 South Main Street in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. The oldest portion of this now-large house was built c. 1780-90 by Bazaleel Taft, and is a fine regional example of late Georgian architecture. The house was adapted for use as a restaurant in the 1960s, which has since closed. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Whipple House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The John Whipple House is a historic colonial house at 1 South Green in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Built in the seventeenth century, the house has been open to the public as a museum since 1899 and was the subject of some of the earliest attempts at the preservation of colonial houses. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, one of the earliest properties to receive that honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan and Mary (Polly) Johnson properties</span> Historic houses in Massachusetts, United States

The Nathan and Mary (Polly) Johnson properties are a National Historic Landmark at 17–19 and 21 Seventh Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Originally the building consisted of two structures, one dating to the 1820s and an 1857 house joined with the older one shortly after construction. They have since been restored and now house the New Bedford Historical Society. The two properties are significant for their association with leading members of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts, and as the only surviving residence in New Bedford of Frederick Douglass. Nathan and Polly Johnson were free African-Americans who are known to have sheltered escaped slaves using the Underground Railroad from 1822 on. Both were also successful in local business; Nathan as a caterer and Polly as a confectioner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty Farm</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

Liberty Farm is a National Historic Landmark at 116 Mower Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built c. 1810, it was the home for most of their married life of Abby Kelley Foster (1810–1887) and Stephen Symonds Foster (1809-1881), early vocal abolitionists and women's rights activists. The Fosters used their house as a shelter on the Underground Railroad, and famously refused to pay taxes on the property because Abby was unable to vote. The property, a private residence not open to the public, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974. In 2018 the building was sold off to a local family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enoch Whitmore House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Enoch Whitmore House is an historic house at 12 Daniels Lane in Ashburnham, Massachusetts. Built about 1818, this Federal period house is historically significant as a documented stop on the Underground Railroad, where fugitive slaves were sheltered. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances H. and Jonathan Drake House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Frances H. and Jonathan Drake House is an historic house at 21 Franklin Street in Leominster, Massachusetts, United States. Built in 1848, this typical Greek Revival worker's cottage is notable as a stop on the Underground Railroad during the pre-Civil War years. Frances and Jonathan Drake are documented as having hosted Shadrach Minkins after he was successfully extracted from custody at a Boston court hearing. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ezra Wood–Levi Warner Place</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Ezra Wood–Levi Warner Place is an historic house at 165 Depot Road in Westminster, Massachusetts. The oldest portion of the house, now an ell attached to the rear of the main block, was built in 1759 by Nathaniel Merrill, and is one of the town's oldest surviving structures. The house has served as a hotel, stagecoach stop, post office, and as a stop on the Underground Railroad. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Congregational Church of East Longmeadow</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

First Congregational Church of East Longmeadow is a historic church in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Built in 1828, it is the oldest church building in East Longmeadow, and houses its oldest congregation. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The congregation is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingsbury-Whitaker House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Kingsbury-Whitaker House is a historic house in Needham, Massachusetts. The 2+12-story wood-frame house has at its core elements of a house that was built on the site in about 1720. The old house, built by Deacon Timothy Kingsbury, became the significantly-altered nucleus of a larger house built in 1840 by Edward Whitaker, a prominent local businessman. With further additions, the building encapsulates more than 200 years of construction methods. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorsey–Jones House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Dorsey–Jones House is a historic house located at 191 Nonotuck Street in the Florence area of Northampton, Massachusetts. Built in 1849, it is known to have been owned by two former slaves with well-documented escape histories. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swetland-Pease House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Swetland-Pease House is a historic house at 191 Pease Road in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Probably built about 1793, it is one of a small number of surviving 18th-century houses in the town, and is one of its best-preserved. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House at 922 Dale Street</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The house at 922 Dale Street is a historic First Period house in North Andover, Massachusetts. It is a 2.5-story wood-frame house, five bays wide, with a small side porch and a rear single story addition. The oldest part of the house is the right rear portion, which is estimated to have been built in the first quarter of the 18th century, along with a central chimney. Sometime between 1740 and 1780 rooms were added to its left. A major renovation during the Federal period removed the central chimney, and added rooms in front of the earlier ones, giving the main block of the house its rectangular shape. The interior has some well preserved Federal period details.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adams-Magoun House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Adams-Magoun House is a historic house at 438 Broadway in Somerville, Massachusetts. Built about 1783, it is one of the city's few surviving 18th-century buildings and its best-preserved. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walnut Street School (Reading, Massachusetts)</span> United States historic place

The Walnut Street School is a historic school building at 55 Hopkins Street in Reading, Massachusetts. A two-room schoolhouse built in 1854, it is the town's oldest public building. Since 1962 it has been home to the Quannapowitt Players, a local theatrical company. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Hempsted House</span> Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Joshua Hempsted House is a historic house museum at 11 Hempstead Street in New London, Connecticut. 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 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 in 1970.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Elijah Burt House". National Archive. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  3. 1 2 "MACRIS inventory record for Elijah Burt House". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2013-12-09.