
Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
- Address
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Website
- nps.gov
About Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
The Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site (also known as the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House and, until December 2010, Longfellow National Historic Site) is a historic site located at 105 Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. It was the home of noted American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for almost 50 years, and it had previously served as the headquarters of General George Washington during the early American Revolutionary War.
The house was built in 1759 for Jamaican plantation owner John Vassall Jr., who fled the Cambridge area at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War because of his loyalty to the king of England. George Washington occupied it as his headquarters beginning on July 16, 1775, and it served as his base of operations during the Siege of Boston until he moved out on April 4, 1776. Andrew Craigie, Washington's Apothecary General, was the next person to own the home for a significant period of time. He purchased the house in 1791 and instigated its only major addition. Craigie's financial situation at the time of his death in 1819 forced his widow Elizabeth to take in boarders, and one of those boarders was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He became its owner in 1843 when his father-in-law Nathan Appleton purchased it as a wedding gift. He lived in the home until his death in 1882.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Founded
- 1759
- Annual visitors
- 30K
- in 2020
Photos of Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
01CambridgeDaderot at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
02Inside Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic SiteNational Park Service Digital Image Archives · Public domain03Drawing room - Longfellow National Historic SiteDaderot · CC0
04Drawing room - Longfellow National Historic SiteDaderot · CC0
05The Hall "Craigie" Home of Longfellow, Cambridge, Mass (1) - 1---, Acervo do Museu Paulista da USPJosé Rosael/Hélio Nobre/Museu Paulista da USP · Public domain
06The Hall "Craigie" Home of Longfellow, Cambridge, Mass (1) - 1---, Acervo do Museu Paulista da USP (cropped)José Rosael/Hélio Nobre/Museu Paulista da USP · Public domain
Shared by photographers under free licenses on Wikimedia Commons. Tap a photo to see it full size there.
Visitor reviews
No one has reviewed Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site yet. If you've been, tell other visitors what stood out and when you went. Anyone who has visited can write one, with or without their name, and we read each review before it appears.
No reviews yet. Been here? Be the first to share your visit.
Nearby museums
Make a day of it. 4 more museums are within a mile of Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site; the closest, Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, is about a mile away.


