Anthony House (Adams, Massachusetts)

Anthony House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Adams, Massachusetts
Coordinates
Built	rt1817 (rt1817)
Architect	Anthony,Daniel
Architectural style	Federal
NRHP Reference #	85000021
Added to NRHP	January 3, 1985

The Anthony House is a historic house at 67 East Road in Adams, Massachusetts. It is notable for its association with early educators and industrialists in Adams, and as the birthplace of suffragist Susan B. Anthony in 1820. Anthony's father Daniel was an influential member of the local Quaker community, taught in the local school, and helped establish the Adams Academy, a secondary school. He and his brother also built one of the first mills in Adams in 1822, before the family left the area for Upstate New York in 1825.

The house is a conventional center hall 2.5 story colonial in the Federalist style. Twin chimneys rise from the building's center line, and a modest 1.5 story ell was added onto the rear of the house, and a porch added onto the side of the rear ell in the 1950s was enclosed in the 1960s. A barn has been replaced by a modern garage on the property. Inside the house the original floorplan has been retained, with a central hall flanked by large public rooms in front of the house and smaller service rooms in the rear. The rear ell contains two small rooms. Most of the original woodwork has been retained, although one fireplace has been bricked up. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The house is now a museum dedicated to showcasing Susan B. Anthony's early years.

History

The first of the Anthonys to arrive in Adams, Massachusetts was David Anthony, the great-grandfather of Susan B. Anthony, in the years before the American Revolutionary War. He came as part of a more general migration of Quakers to the area from Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. He established a cider mill that remains in the Anthony family to this day. His grandson, David Anthony, built this house in 1817 as a gift to his son, Daniel Anthony, the father of Susan B. Anthony. David was a strong proponent of education, teaching at the East Road School, and joining with others in the tightly knit Quaker community to found the Adams Academy in 1825 on land owned by his father. Daniel Anthony also continued the family interest in mills, establishing a cotton yarn-producing mill, known as the Pump Log Mill, in 1822.

It is in this house that his second child, Susan B. Anthony, was born on February 15, 1820. In 1827 he was lured by financial interests to Battenville, New York.

The house remained in Anthony family hands until 1895, after which it went through a succession of owners. The Society of Friends Descendants acquired the property in 1926, and established a museum. The building was returned to private hands in 1949. It underwent restoration from 2006 to 2009. It is now home to the non-profit Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum, showcasing Susan B. Anthony's early years and her legacy as a tireless advocate of women's right to vote.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Berkshire County, Massachusetts

External links

• Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum website