What Is The Wayside?
Nicknamed the “Home of Authors,” this house has been home to three different families of great literary importance!
What Makes It Historical?
We don’t know exactly when the Wayside was built, but there has been a house here since at least 1688! Many families passed through over almost eighty years until Samuel Whitney moved in. He was a merchant, but he was also the muster master of the Concord Minute Men during the Battle of Concord on April 19, 1775! For a year after the battle, when Concord hosted Harvard College during the siege of Boston, this was home to Professor John Winthrop, founder of seismology and great-great grandson of the founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony!
The house became more literary in 1845 when Amos and Abigail Alcott moved in with their four daughters, Anna, Elizabeth, Abigail, and Louisa. It was a sale made through Abigail’s father’s will, because Papa Alcott was very much in debt, and the older generation didn’t want the young family kicked out of their home! The Alcotts lived here for seven years, during which time they hosted at least one northbound passenger on the Underground Railroad!
Nathaniel Hawthorne bought the home from the Alcotts in 1852, the year he published The Blithedale Romance. He was the one who named the house “The Wayside,” and he stayed here with his family for a year, rented it out for four years while serving as consul in Liverpool, then lived out his last four years here. It then passed into the hands of the Lothrops in 1883, Harriet Lothrop (a.k.a. Margaret Sidney) being the author of the Five Little Peppers. In this series of 12 books spanning 17 years, the struggling Pepper family gets taken in by the wealthy King family but still have to navigate the challenges of growing up! Harriet’s daughter, Margaret, would later be responsible for having the Wayside declared a National Historic Landmark!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Volunteer at Minute Man National Historical Park!
- Donate to Minute Man National Historical Park!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
455 Lexington Rd
Concord, MA 01742
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
Visit the outside whenever the mood strikes you!