Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland

1786 -- Peleg Wadsworth’s House and Store

This is the earliest drawing of the Wadsworth-Longfellow house and gives a good idea of how the house looked when it was first built in 1786.

Local historian William Goold made this drawing from a description given by Edward Howe, who was a tenant in the store in 1805.

1821 - Wadsworth-Longfellow House

After a fire damaged the roof, Stephen and Zilpah Wadsworth Longfellow added a third story to the house in 1814.

The house has remained unchanged since that time.

An unidentified member of the Longfellow family made this drawing.

1868 - Wadsworth-Longfellow House

This is the earliest known photograph of the house.

Samuel Wadsworth – son of Elizabeth and Peleg Wadsworth – wrote below the image, "The Home in which I was born, Sept. 18, 1791. Erected by my father in 1785, the first Brick House built in Portland."

1875 - Wadsworth-Longfellow House

Three elm trees in the front yard nearly obscure the view of the house from the cobblestoned Congress Street.

A solid board fence screened the side yard that led to the rear entrance to the house through the ell and the garden.

1880 - the Old Original

Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow, brother of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, probably made this photograph in 1885.

The Morton Block and the Preble House stand on either side of the family home that the family called "the Old Original."

At this time, Anne Longfellow Pierce was the only family member living in the house.

1882 - Looking East on Congress Street toward Market Square

The strawberry shortcake sign advertises one of the delicacies available in the shops that occupied the Morton Block.

The elms mark the location of the Wadsworth-Longfellow house next door, and the old city building stands in what later became Monument Square.

1890 - Wadsworth-Longfellow House

With the leaves off the trees, the house and yard are clearly visible.

Anne Longfellow Pierce, sister of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, lived in the house nearly her entire life.

When she died in 1901, the she gave the house to Maine Historical Society.

1890 - The Morton Block and the Wadsworth Longfellow House

The Morton Block, to the west of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, was originally built in 1825.

In 1864, John Bundy Brown added a third floor and a mansard roof.

The expanded Morton Block towered over the Wadsworth-Longfellow house and provided space for businesses and social clubs such as the Hibernian Hall.

1900 - the Wadsworth Longfellow House in winter

Snow piles in front of the house and a slushy Congress Street mark this winter view of the Wadsworth-Longfellow house.

The sign on the utility pole reads: "Positively Post No Bills."

1908 - Morton Block, Wadsworth Longfellow House and Library, and Keith’s Theater

The Maine Historical Society's new headquarters opened in 1907 on the 100th anniversary of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s birth.

A new fence was built in 1908 – the same year that Keith’s Theater opened in the Preble House hotel to the east of the house.

1924 - Looking East on Congress Street Toward City Hall

This view was probably made from the roof of the Porteous Department Store – now the location of the Maine College of Art.

The newly constructed Chapman Building offered eleven floors of office space and a commercial arcade.

Cars and electric trolleys filled Congress Street.

1925 - Street Scene in Front of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House and MHS Headquarters

Drivers required parking places, gasoline stations, and better roads for their cars. These needs quickly changed the city landscape.

Gradually workers could commute into the city and they worked in offices in taller buildings.

In this view, a hard-top coupe is parked in front of the entrance to the MHS headquarters.

1940 - Wadsworth-Longfellow House

This is a familiar view of the house and front yard.

The cars are of the period – yet pedestrians still enjoy a chance to linger in front of the house and watch the activities on the street.

1961 - Wadsworth-Longfellow House

The house has changed little in the over 200 years since it was built.

In 1964 the house was designated a National Historic Landmark – one of the highest distinctions for buildings in America.