Wadsworth-Longfellow House

The childhood home of Longfellow is the oldest standing structure on the Portland peninsula and one of the few houses in the country preserved with original family furniture from three generations. The garden behind has been re-created in period style and is one of the more peaceful corners in central Portland.

The Maine Historical Society next door runs the museum tour, included in the same ticket. Open seasonally; allow an hour for the house and an hour for the small but worthwhile MHS galleries.

things to do sight museum
A story
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow — once the most famous poet in the English-speaking world — grew up in this brick house on Congress Street, built by his grandfather in 1786 and the first all-brick house in Portland. The interior is preserved largely as the Longfellow family left it, including Henry's own copies of Dante and the small writing desk where he sketched poems before sending them off to Harvard.

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