Grandfather's House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grandfather's House is the original house named in the well-known American song "Over the River and Through the Woods". Some versions of this song refer to Grandmother's House. It is unclear which is the correct phrase. The house is a classic example of Greek Revival architecture, located at 114 South Street, Medford, Massachusetts.Google maps link
The house's rear portion was built in the early 1800s as a small farmhouse. It is this farmhouse that Lydia Maria Child (1802–1880) recalled when she wrote of her childhood visits to her grandmother's house in the poem "Over the River and Through the Woods" published in 1844. The Mystic River was the poem's river; most of the woods seem to have vanished long ago.
About 1839 the house was greatly enlarged and given its two story Ionic portico by Paul Curtis, who established a shipyard on the north side of the Mystic River at the foot of Winthrop Street. Between 1839 and 1852, Curtis built 27 vessels, including several world famous clipper ships. The house was purchased in 1976 and restored by Tufts University.
[edit] External links
- "Over the River and Through the Woods": Grandmother's House lyrics
- "Over the River and Through the Wood": Grandfather's House lyrics
[edit] Book references
- Grandmother: Lori J. Kenschaft (2002). Lydia Maria Child: The Quest for Racial Justice. Oxford University Press. 0195132572.
- Grandfather: Carolyn L. Karcher (Ed.) (1997). A Lydia Maria Child Reader. Duke University Press. 0822319497.
