The Wayside Through the Years
For over three hundred years, The Wayside and
its families have witnessed and made Concord and America's recorded
history. In addition to its authors, the house's occupants, including
Minuteman Samuel Whitney, farmers, artisans, reformers and teachers
were connected to everyday occurrences and sweeping events that
shaped America's heritage.
Today, The Wayside is known as The Home of Authors for
the three literary families that lived in it - the Alcotts, Hawthornes,
and Lothrops who all added to America's literature and to their
home.
1686: First deed to the Wayside property; a houselot granted to Nathaniel Ball on his upcoming marriage. The original farmhouse was most likely built shortly after that date.
1717: First deed citing a house on the property, in which Nathaniel Ball's son, Caleb, sold The Wayside to Samuel Fletcher, a "glazer."
1717-1769: Succession of owners, most of whom were farmers and artisans.
[A Colonial House - More Information]
1769 - 1775: Owned and lived in by Samuel Whitney, Muster Master of the Concord Minutemen at the start of the American Revolution
1775 - 1776: Occupied by the eminent scientist John Winthrop during the nine months that Concord hosted Harvard College.
1778 - 1845: Owned by a number of families involved in farming and trades.
1845 - 1852: Educator and philopsopher Amos Bronson Alcott and his wife, Abby, owned the home they called "Hillside." Here Louisa May Alcott, "Jo," as a teenager, and her sisters, Anna, "Meg," Elizabeth, "Beth," and May, "Amy," lived many of the scenes that later appeared in Little Women.
[The Alcott Years - More Information]
1852: Acclaimed author Nathaniel Hawthorne purchased his only home from the Alcotts, and moved in with his wife, Sophia, and their three young children, Una, Julian, and Rose. He renamed it "The Wayside."
1853 -1860: While the Hawthornes were in Europe, the house was leased and rented to members of their family, including Sophia's sister, Mary Peabody (Mrs.Horace) Mann.
[The Hawthorne Years - More Information]
1860 - 1864: Hawthorne spent the last four years of his life at The Wayside with his family. Hawthorne's neighbors were now the Alcotts who had purchased the Orchard House next door.
Illustration: Henry David Thoreau made a survey of Hawthorne's Wayside in August, 1860
1870: Hawthorne's heirs sold The Wayside to Mrs. Abby Gray; her son George Arthur painted the murals on the ceiling of the Tower Study in memory of Hawthorne.
1873 - 1879: Rented, then owned by Miss Mary C. Pratt who ran a boarding school for young ladies in her home.
1879 - 1883: Owned by Hawthorne's youngest daughter, Rose and her husband, George Parsons Lathrop.
1883: Bought by Boston publisher Daniel Lothrop and his wife, Harriett, who wrote "The Five Little Peppers" and other children's books under the pen name Margaret Sidney. The Lothrops greatly admired Hawthorne's writing and wanted to make as few changes as possible to his only home. They also bought some Hawthorne furniture from Rose and George Lathrop.
[The Lothrop Years - More Information]
1884: Harriett Lothrop (Margaret Sidney's) daughter, Margaret, became the only author's child to be born at The Wayside.
1892: On March 18, Daniel Lothrop died in Boston.
1924: After the death of her mother in California, Margaret became the last of The Wayside's private owners. Margaret had been teaching sociology at Stanford University since 1915.
1963: The Wayside was designated a National Historic Landmark.
1965: The Wayside became a part of Minute Man National Historical Park and the first literary site to be acquired by the National Park Service. Margaret, eighty years old, had devoted forty years of her life to saving her home.
1971: On April 17, The Wayside opened to the public after extensive restoration by the National Park Service, aided by Margaret Lothrop until her death.
1975: The Wayside Barn was restored and used as a visitor center.
1985: The Wayside was designated a National Historic Landmark for the second time.
1996: The Wayside celebrated its 25th anniversary as a National Park Service site. The Barn rehabilitation, with all new exhibits, was completed.
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Last Updated: 2/23/98